Kiss, Kiss
by xxiwritesinsnottragediesxx
Summary: AU.in the street gangs of LA no one is safe.Sasuke's intricately covered past unfolds as he falls for someone even he didn't expect to.Murder,deceit & revenge all play a crucial part in solving this spinetingling case!Can top detective N.Uzumaki solve it!
1. Chapter 1

**Kiss, Kiss**

_Chapter 1_

"I love you so much," he said as he gently tapped a kiss onto her forehead. He brushed her soft, pink, gentle hair aside and gazed deeply into her midnight eyes. Her beautifully contoured figure sleekly held the black silk nightgown she was wearing as she stared back into his eyes.

Sakura sighed, _finally, finally….after all these years he finally loves me…._

Sasuke inched his hands towards her nightgown, slowly pulling it lower, until her fair shoulders peeked from beneath the smooth fabric. He grasped her shoulders tightly and pulled her towards him, locking her in a passionate kiss. Two luscious lips gliding against one another in a heat of passion, surging through one another. Sasuke backed away, looking at Sakura, she was so beautiful, he wanted her, he _needed _her, he loved her, but now was not the time. Now was the time for the job.

He looked down at her half bare chest, _It's there….that's what I've been looking for this whole time_….he looked down at the crystal necklace that hung around Sakura's neck. "I'm so sorry," he said, and quickly took the knife from his pocket, and stabbed her. Eyes of horror and betrayal filled Sakura's eyes as she fell to the ground, saying "...how could you", before dropping to the ground, unconscious. Slyly, Sasuke leaned over towards her unconscious form, grabbing the small necklace. He looked down pitifully at her, and laughed.

He then walked out of the room, into the blackness of the night.

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Naruto looked up from the police tape that had been sewn across the border of the room, the police lights in the background blaring. Already the neighbourhood crowd had gathered, curious about the arrival of the police in what was thought of as a 'peaceful' neighbourhood.

He looked down at the woman's slender form. Her black silk gown lay sprawled across her body as blood seeped through her abdomen. The doctors had arrived a few minutes after they had received a call from a frightened woman.

Naruto turned his attention back to the worried woman in front of him. "Sorry, what did you say your name was again?" he asked patiently.

"I-I-Ino…."

"And your relation to this woman?"

"I'm Sakura's good friend, I just came over to give back her cutlery kit that she let me borrow for a dinner party I was having today."

"Dinner party?"

"Ya, I had a small get together with all my friends."

"But didn't you just say that Sakura was your friend? Why hadn't you invited her?" Naruto asked suspiciously, looking up from his notepad.

"Well, she said she couldn't come because she had a date today," Ino replied.

"Date? Any idea with whom?"

"No, she didn't specify or say anything. She just was extremely happy when she was on the phone with me earlier on in the afternoon when I had asked her to come."

"Bu-…." Naruto stopped short as he was interrupted.

"Inspector Uzumaki…" one of the medical attendants said as the got up from Sakura's sprawled body.

"Yes? Is she okay?"

"Ya, we just did a blood pressure check to see how she was doing. She seems to be doing fine at the moment we've bandaged her up for now, though I don't think you will be able to question her as we intended to. She doesn't seem to be in the proper condition," the attendant said as he pointed towards her.

Sakura was now sitting up, in obvious agony from the stab wound in her abdomen. She was breathing heavily, looking up towards Naruto, as if urging him to come to her.

"Well, there's no harm in trying. Besides, it seems like she wants to say something to me anyways."

He walked over to her and knelt down. "Hello m'am, my name's Inspector Naruto Uzumaki. I know that the condition you're in isn't very good, but if it wouldn't be too much trouble, then would you mind just giving us some details on what happened tonight? It would really help us out at the moment. " Naruto said kindly. He stared at her face, realizing that this woman was extremely beautiful.

"S-S…" Sakura breathed heavily, trying to sputter her words together.

"Yes, go on…." Naruto said.

"S-Sa.." suddenly the machine next to her began beeping loudly. Sakura began to breathe heavily, and she fainted back onto the ground.

"Get out of the way!" the medical attendant yelled as he rushed towards her.

Naruto looked away, uninterested. She would be fine, he knew it. Ino on the other hand ran towards her, screaming frantically, "Sakura! Sakura!"

He walked away from the loud scene towards the technicians standing near the apartment door. "So, did you guys finally tap into the apartment camera?" he asked.

"Yes sir, in fact we struck lucky, we have a picture of the suspect before he came into the apartment. "

"That's excellent," he said, he couldn't wait to get home. He had been out all day, and just when he thought he was free to go, he got this stupid call to come here. It didn't matter though. It was the same case; someone's boyfriend had gotten revenge on his girlfriend. Typical case of relationship abuse. What was new?

"Here it is sir; we stilled the video and sharpened the image to get rid of the expanded pixels,"

Naruto looked closely at the image. He had a handsome face, his mid-length hair falling lightly against his high cheekbones.

"Excuse me miss, do you mind just helping me for a second?" Naruto said as he turned towards Ino. She was still sitting near Sakura, worried.

Ino looked up, hesitantly. "She'll be fine, don't worry," said the medical assistant, kindly smiling at her. She nodded slightly and got up, walking towards Naruto.

Though as she looked at the screen her face turned to horror and she stopped dead in her tracks. "N-n-no, this can't be true," rasped out.

She ran towards the picture, looking at it closely.

"What is it?" Naruto said.

"This man! It can't be!"

"Why? Do you know him?" Naruto asked. He knew he was getting somewhere. A good sign for him to get this over with and get home.

"Know him? I was good friends with him at one point!"

"Then what happened-are you still friends with him?"

"Not anymore…."

"Why?" he asked curiously.

"Because…he died 2 years ago…"


	2. Chapter 2

_Chapter 2_

The rain pattered against the yellow cab as it drove through the dreariness of the grim night.

Inside the plush interior sat a disheartened Sasuke, holding a picture of a stunning woman in his hands. He sighed heavily, what was done, was done. He couldn't turn back on it now.

When he got the job from his boss, things had changed. He was sent to get the necklace from Al Fonzo, the gang leader of the Knivez. At first, it was only to get back on Al Fonzo's debt he was on heavily after making a loan from Boss. Though after Boss found out about the power that the necklace had, it was worth billions!

Since then, the severity of the mission had changed, Sasuke was desperate, he needed to get that necklace or it would be the end of him, as Boss had said. Sakura had offered to help, after Sasuke had made some cock-and-bull story about him needing the necklace for some personal reasons. She had believed him. She was a good friend. He made her do things that no woman would be proud of. End of story.

He agreed, that he did use her, but he hadn't meant to hurt her. He thought she would understand. He kept saying that to himself, but the gaping hole he was feeling in his heart wouldn't leave him alone…

---------------------------

The heart monitor beeped steadily, carefully observing Sakura's stable heartbeat. Ino sat worriedly beside Sakura's bedside, gazing at the fading wallpaper plastered against the grungy hospital walls.

She was shocked; she didn't know what to think. Sasuke? Still alive? Had she seen the image properly? No doubt about it, it was him, in the flesh and bone. Was that the date that Sakura was talking about? Why hadn't even Sakura told her about this? She was so confused.

The clock menacingly ticked away as the time fluidly passed by. She could remember the last day she had seen Sasuke alive. It had been two years ago. The memory had been permanently carved into the cobblestones of her mind.

"_NO! Sasuke!" Sakura screamed as she dashed across the putrid walkway of the apartment back alley. _

_The ambulance had backed up against the outer lane of the alleyway, with the paramedics nearby. A body laid covered by a bloody white sheet, soaked by the rain falling from the heavy thunderstorm showering above their heads. _

_Sakura lay sprawled against the bloody body, not letting go the hold of her grasp, despite the tried efforts of the paramedics. _

"_It can't be! This can't be Sasuke! He would never do anything like that! You're lying! YOU'RE ALL LYING!" Sakura yelled, heated tears falling from her soaked eyes. "Tell them Ino; tell them it can't be Sasuke!" Sakura shouted deliriously, shaking her head wildly from side to side. _

_All Ino could do was stare into the unbelievable situation that unraveled in front of her. One minute she was in the warmth of her apartment, the next she was out in the bitter cold of the outside. She was shocked; she didn't know what to think. _

_As soon as Ino heard the gunshot, she had come dashing down the stairs. At first Sasuke and Gaara had a heated argument inside of her apartment Then they, "stepped outside". Ino thinking they were up to their usual immaturities let them step out. A punch here, a kick there, that would knock some sense into those two. _

_At least that was what she thought. She didn't expect someone to die. Now, Sasuke's dead body lay on the cold pavement, the trail of diluted blood flowing in front of her feet. _

"_Lemme see his face! I don't think you guys have the right guy," Sakura yelled heatedly at the paramedics. _

"_No m'am, we can't let you. We saw the face already; it's not a pretty picture. His face has been beaten up so badly that the only way we could recognize him was from the I.D he was carrying in his back pocket," the paramedic said glumly holding up a bloody plastic I.D card with "SASUKE UCHIHA" printed on the white background in bold black letters. _

"_No! You're lying! It's a fake! You guys are trying to trick us!" Sakura screamed denyingly. She ran towards the covered body in a fit of delirium when Ino finally yelled out, "SAKURA! Control yourself god damn it!"_

_Sakura jolted in place, knocking some sense into herself. "What do you know Ino! You're so emotionless! You're not even crying," Sakura yelled choking back her heated tears. _

_She was wrong. How wrong that Sakura was. The pain was so excruciating that she herself couldn't cry it all out. _

_Ino looked up at the thundering grey sky as drops of heavy rain poured down her eyes and slid down her rosy cheeks._

_No, she thought, she wasn't crying, the sky was doing it for her. _

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The cab tires screeched against the wet pavement as it halted to a stop. Sasuke walked out of the warmth of the car as he stepped into the drizzling rain.

Enough gushy stuff. Like he had said earlier, the job came first. He looked up; the Los Angelos tavern was illuminated with bright fluorescent lights. It was so bright that one couldn't even see the stars anymore.

Instead, Sasuke saw a large display board saying, "Hot Girls! Get them now! Really cheap", with a nude girl with an unusually large chest plastered up against it.

_Quite arousing_, he thought.

He took his gaze back to the run down tavern in front of him. The moldy door lay sprawled open. One could see why so many people thought the tavern was condemned. The wood had grown strange colours of mold on the sides. Along with dirt growing on the old 60s photos of hippies on the wall. Rats roamed arrogantly across the rotten floor, taking no attention of any human who was crazy enough to enter.

Though the tavern had made some attempts to freshen up the place, trying to detract the visitor from any flaws. A shoddy tune box lay fading away in one corner with the pile of dust building up quite high indeed. Cheap plastic flowers were placed on top of the teetering 3-legged tables to add a touch of sophistication to the aging dump. A plastic chandelier hung from the arched ceiling, cobwebs dangling off its misused light bulbs.

It seemed that the tavern's meager attempts could be seen as a "success". Though one might not see the tavern's customers as the most amiable ones an owner would want, one could not complain. "As long as they p aid, I don't give a damn," Jiraiya, the owner always said.

Sasuke scanned the rusty seats filled with hobos to druggies for the Boss. This was their regular meeting place. No one expected the great Boss to be sitting in a decomposing place of shit such as this.

Not only did it deceive the Boss' numerous enemies, but it reminded Sasuke of the world he had grown up and now become accustomed to. The filthy, dirty path that he had been forced into taking.

A memory of Sasuke's childhood flashed in front of his eyes. His brother Itachi, also known as the underworld's most powerful drug lord had forced Sasuke at the tender age of twelve to sell cocaine to his fellow classmates.

The threat, as he could clearly recall was in these exact words, "You sell this cocaine to those kids or I'll kick the living shit out of you that you won't even be able to recognize your own shitty little face anymore!"

Obviously at the ripe age of twelve, such a threat did indeed scare the hell out of him. From there Itachi had forced him to sell numerous other drugs to little kids. The once hurtful feeling he used to feel when ever he saw a nine year old smoke because of him, morphed into an emotionless, coldhearted greed for money.

His once innocently straight path of thought had been evilly twisted by his own brother. From there it only grew worse. He had swirled deeper into the darkness of the underworld until he himself couldn't dig himself back out again.

Now he had become quite a prominent member in the Underworld, being the Boss' right hand man. A success inone point of view, a failure in another. The hatred Sasuke had grown for his brother could never replace the success he had reached in the underworld. Now, Sasuke only had one motive in his life, to get revenge on his brother for messing up his now pitiful life.

Sasuke turned his attention back towards the tavern. He expertly scanned the numerous tables until he set his eyes on a person who stood out of the crowd like a sore thumb.

Despite the Boss' efforts to hide himself from his enemies, he couldn't hide his ego. No man could. There sat the Boss, with long black hair. His pale face contrasted the Hugo Boss back suit he was wearing. His snakelike eyes moved around the room in a boring fashion. They were used to the tavern's common settings.

Sasuke walked over to the table and pulled up a seat. It slowly groaned against the aging wood. As he sat down, the decomposing wood sunk under the weight of him. "You really need to fix these chairs up Jiraiya," Sasuke said tiredly to the bar tender that was cleaning used beer mugs with a dirty cloth.

Jiraiya looked up angrily and yelled, "Shut the hell up! If you don't like this place then get the hell out!"

Sasuke sighed, and turned back towards the Boss, "Sorry Boss," he mumbled.

The Boss turned his attention to his visitor and asked straight away, "Sasuke, did you bring the necklace?"

That was just like Boss, getting straight to the point. No formalities. That was why Sasuke admired him. He admired the amount of power and influence he had. Every little thing would somehow interconnect with him and you wouldn't even know it. His expansive knowledge seeped into every internal structure. He knew everything about anything. And that was what struck so much fear into everybody.

As soon as someone heard his name, it would be a sign of upcoming danger. That was why **nobody** dared to go against the Boss.

"Yes Boss I have it," Sasuke replied informatively.

He reached into the depths of his blazer and picked up the shimmering necklace. He placed it onto the table, setting it in front of the Boss.

"Excellent," the Boss said as he smoothly slurred his tongue, "Once again Sasuke you have kept your word. After your last report I was afraid I had to kill you," he laughed.

Sasuke laughed back nervously, "Now why would you think that? I never go back on my word, Orichimaru- Sama."

----------------------------------------------------------

The evening sun began to set slowly in uptown LA. Already Naruto could see hookers lining up against the sidewalks. Business was open to operate.

Even though the sex industry was illegal, arresting underage sex workers wasn't his top priority at the moment. Compared to the case he had in front of him, prostitutes were the last thing on his mind.

Naruto shuffled through the documents he had been analyzing all day. In front of him was Sasuke Uchiha's personal record, which the state department had a hold of.

It was nothing out of the ordinary. He wasn't a druglord, raper or gang member with any scratch of a criminal record. He was clean. He was a twenty-three year old male who lived in LA as a car salesman at the nearby Ford complex. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Though only one thing stuck out on the sheet. It said that he had died on July 18, 2004. That was more than two years ago. Yet he had seen him in the apartment's stilled image just yesterday.

Naruto had called the hospital in which his autopsy had been done, St. Mary's. According to the medical files in store, the autopsy had been performed by Dr. Law. Though when Naruto had looked into the City of Los Angelos' medical information, there was no such doctor.

Something wasn't right here. Something he needed to know was missing. It just didn't make sense. Until that Sakura girl didn't wake up and get better he wouldn't be able to solve the god damn case!

Naruto looked at the stilled image of Sasuke that had been taken from the apartment video camera. For hours he had been sitting at his desk, analyzing the photo from the video and the one from Sasuke's profile.

He had to admit that the image from the apartment's security video showed an older, more dark-eyed Sasuke. Not as clean shaven and with longer, messier hair, but if all those slight differences were taken away, then there was no doubt that it was the same person.

But why? Why was this the same person! So god damn confusing!

Naruto rubbed his temples irritably, giving out a heavy sigh. He had been working on the same stupid case all day. Usually at this time of the day he would have been at home in front of the TV, sipping some nice Columbian coffee with three or four cases solved under his belt.

Though this case was different. So many more complications. Even the information he had barely managed to salvage didn't click. He needed something. He needed a break, a lead, a clue, something!

Naruto gazed down at his digital watch, it was 7:03 PM. _I think I should go home now, it's getting late, and I'll start again in the morning_.

Just when Naruto had packed up his suitcase, there was a light knock on his doorway.

"Who is it?"

A soft voice, barely audible peeped through the door, "It's me sir, Hinata."

"Hinata? Why haven't you gone home yet? I told you to leave at 5."

Hinata peered in through the door as she slowly opened it. She blushed red and said, "I just couldn't leave you here alone sir, you staying here so late on that case, I thought I should stay back and help you."

"I never said you'd be paid bonus if you stayed late. Why did you?" Naruto asked confusingly.

"….umm….just cuz I guess….."

Awkward silence.

"Anyways, Hinata, you knocked on my door because…."

"Oh ya," Hinata said, remembering the cause of her appearance, "There's a phone call here for you."

_This late….who would call me now?_

"Well, who ever it is, tell them it can wait until tomorrow morning, I'm going home."

"Well sir, the man said that it was extremely important and it might benefit you to hear him."

Naruto stopped in his tracks, "Who is it?"

"He says his name is Sasuke Uchiha…"


	3. Chapter 3

_Chapter 3_

Naruto's hands trembled with shock…

"It's Sasuke Uchiha," the words echoed in the hollows of Naruto's ear, the connection didn't quite make a sense until a few seconds later…

"Naruto…Naruto?" Hinata asked repeatedly, surprised at his usually calm exposure being broken. _Who could possibly be on the other line that has the capability to shatter even Naruto's nerves of steel?_

"Ya I heard you!" he finally managed to answer, attempting to hide his shattered nerves with a calm and cool face.

He reached over to his desk, looking at his typical black phone. Line 1 was blinking red, on and off. He glanced over to the left, _Caller ID: Unknown Private Number_.

----------------------------------------------

Suddenly Ino snapped out of her daze, a small cough had unexpectedly protruded from Sakura's dry mouth. She glanced over to the heart rate monitor…_beep…beep…beep_, it slowly paced to the regular rhythms of Sakura's heart.

_Well at least she's getting better. Her heart rate's at a normal pace_.

Ino looked at Sakura's pale face. Recalling when just a few hours earlier in the morning Sakura had woken up in the midst of her sleep yelling, "Sasuke! Sasuke!" her shrill voice piercing the emptiness of the hospital room, in which only Ino sat.

Ino sighed heavily, who knew what had happened? She anxiously looked at Sakura's face, her eyebrows furrowed tensely and her thin lips pursed tightly together. Ino didn't know much about sleep behaviour, but she had enough sense in her to know that Sakura was not having a peaceful dream.

Behind that face, who knew how many secrets lay? All Ino knew was that she was definitely going to find out what was going on.

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Sasuke could hear Naruto breathing heavily on the other line, a sign of nervousness. _Excellent_. He had trapped the victim perfectly, the more anxious they were, the more likely they were going to give in. Rule number one of blackmailing.

"H-Hello?" Naruto asked on the other end, even though he sounded confident, Sasuke had learned through many years of experience how to read people's voices, and he knew that right now he had confused the shit out of Naruto.

Sasuke grinned evilly before giving a silent pause to add effect and finally answering, "Hello Inspector Uzumaki, did I surprise you?"

"Who the hell are you!"

"Why what a silly question Inspector, you yourself know I am Sasuke," he teased.

"Sasuke my ass! Who are you? Who's paying you to do this! ANSWER ME!" Naruto heatedly spitted out through the other end.

Sasuke giggled menacingly through the line, "Now, now Inspector. Calm yourself. I didn't expect you, the great Inspector Uzumaki who is said to have nerves of steel to break down so easily."

"Shut the hell up you bastard! Listen here, I don't need some gay-ass PUNK to come along and play around being Sasuke Uchiha in some stupid prank when everyone knows that he's DEAD! ANSWER ME! Who are you?"

"I already told you idiot, Sasuke Uchiha," a tinge of annoyance edging through his voice, "Listen here, I don't have the time and patience for a nice chat with you, even though you want to," Sasuke said as he grinned at his last comment.

"Hey- you listen here…."

Naruto was stopped short, "No, _you_ listen _here_, "Sasuke stopped when he suddenly heard a faint beep in the distance, "What was that?"

"Nothing, it was my answering machine, I just received a message," Naruto grumpily replied.

_Lies._ He knew that was the voice recording machine. His line was being tapped. _Amateurs_. They'd have a surprise when they ran the tape of this conversation. He laughed quietly before he continued, "Listen up. I know you're in charge of the case with Sakura Haruno in it and I know you know I stabbed her. Let's not cover up things we already know. There are some things that you don't know and you shouldn't know. If you know what's best for you then you won't meddle in things that don't concern you."

"Are you telling me to give up this case?"

"Quite frankly, yes."

"Bastard, you and what army?"

Sasuke laughed out loud, "Are you seriously questioning the back up I have? Do you _know_ who I have alliances with? Don't meddle with the streets of LA, if you know what's best for you. Leave the Haruno case, if you don't want innocent people getting hurt."

"I'm not giving up this case. I know there's something serious going on behind the scenes. And I won't give it up until I find out."

"I'm giving you another chance Uzumaki; give up the case- now."

"No."

"You don't know what you've gotten yourself into Inspector, but you're going to regret it. You will pay for your incompetence. All I have to say is make sure you watch the news in the morning, there might be a little surprise for you. Oh, and by the way, I'd recommend you take care of that girl Ino, you never know what could happen to her," Sasuke said through the line before hanging up.

"Hey! Hey! What do you mean watch Ino?" Naruto yelled deliriously through the other line, but his attempts were ill-fated, the line was dead.

Naruto stared wide-eyed at Hinata who was sitting bewildered at her desk with the voice recording machine in front of her. She had heard the whole conversation.

"Hinata, what am I going to do?"

-----------------------------------

The nurse walked into the room with a steel plate full of needles and medical instruments. She smiled towards Ino and said, "Still here Ino-sama? I thought you would have left by now. It's getting late you know. I have to give Sakura her medicine as well."

"Oh yes, actually I was just about to leave," she replied, about to get up.

"Actually you might want to wait for a little bit. There's a technician here to fix the elevator. It seems that it was broken earlier on today and he's just putting on the final touches to it."

"The elevator was broken? I didn't know that…"

The nurse laughed lightly, "Neither did I, but this hospital is so big that sometimes I don't even know half the things that are going on around here. Just so busy lately," the nurse replied, injecting Sakura's medicine into her right arm.

"So very true. Well I guess I'll stay here until it is fixed,"

"No problem, well I better be going, there's another patient in room 211 that needs some help, I'll come and knock on your door when the elevator's ready," the nurse jollily replied as she wiped Sakura's arm and gently closed the door.

"Thanks," Ino called out.

Ino sighed out loud heavily. She glanced at her watch, 8:05. _It is getting late actually; I'll just pick up some dinner from the drive-thru for today._

"I-I-no…?" a weak voice emerged from the bed covers.

Ino glanced back at Sakura, her swollen eyes had half-opened and were staring at her.

Ino smiled, "So you're finally awake eh sleeping beauty?"

Sakura managed to crack a little grin. "Ya actually, how long have I been knocked out?"

"About two days I would say. I've been sitting here waiting for you to wake up so I can take you out for dinner hun," she smirked.

Sakura laughed, "Of course Ino, any time, you being such a wonderful friend," suddenly her face turned serious, as if remembering the cause of her being in the hospital bed in the first place, "Listen Ino, I feel terrible right now. I did some things in the past few months that I'm so ashamed of that I didn't even tell you. And I know things that would put a lot of people in a lot of trouble…"

Ino looked carefully into Sakura's eyes. She was telling the truth, she could tell from the depths of her eyes that she carried dark secrets and great sadness behind them. "Tell me…."

"I really don't have the strength, there's so much to tell. But I need you to do one thing for me. I need you to go to the man in charge of this case…"

Ino interrupted her, "Inspector Uzumaki?"

"Ya, him. Tell him to meet me as soon as possible. I have information for him that will completely solve this case."

"What is it?"

"I can't tell you everything right now, but all I can say is, remember the night when Sasuke died?"

"How can I forget, "Ino said, a tinge of sadness edging through her voice, "Why?"

"All I've got to say is that nothing is what it seems."

"What do you mean?"

"Sasuke did not die that night."

Ino stopped blank, the words not scrambling together to form sentences, "Sasuke isn't dead!"

"No, he tricked us…."

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Sasuke irritably tapped his fingers on the desk in front of him, the smoke from the casino suffocating his lungs. He was used to the smoke by now. He had grown up with it. But today it was irritating him- for some reason.

The call was supposed to work. Stupid Inspector. He didn't know what he was getting himself into. Now things were getting much more complicated than they needed to be. _Everybody wants to be a god damn hero these days…._

If the Inspector had just agreed then he wouldn't have suffered. _Oh well, too late for him now. I guess I should've covered up my tracks better._

Sasuke grabbed his cell phone from his back pocket and flipped it open. He quickly speed dialed the number "3". The phone rang droningly through the line, repeatedly ringing. Finally a creepy voice picked up on the other end.

"Hello?"

"Neji, it's me, Sasuke. Plan failed, he didn't fall for it. You know what you have to do."

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"But-.."

Ino was stopped short when there was a light knock on the door. "Ino-sama?"

Confusion arousing the slurs of her lips, Ino finally managed to stammer, "Y-yes?"

"It's me, the nurse from earlier on, just wanted to let you know that visiting hours are over, and the elevator has been fixed so you can leave now."

"Oh…..umm…thank you very much," she replied.

"No problem Ino-sama, have a good night."

"You too," she answered half-heartedly.

Ino turned back towards Sakura, the yearning to learn more about Sasuke over-riding her will to leave the hospital.

"Ino, no one besides you knows this information. I _need_ to speak to the Inspector immediately," Sakura said anxiously.

"Don't you worry Sakura. You can count on me. I'll get to it first thing tomorrow morning okay? Now you go and get some much needed rest. You don't look your best I might add," Ino replied giving a gentle smile towards her.

"Thanks Ino," Sakura yawned before softly laying her head onto the pillow. Ino slowly got up from her creaking chair and walked out of the room. Even though she had managed to put up a smile for Sakura, inside her mind was scattering all over the place.

_Sasuke? Still alive? He tricked us? How can this be? We saw his dead body!_ Ino's face was so furrowed in confusion that she didn't even realize that she had reached the elevator. Her concentration was broken only when she noticed a man wearing construction overalls and work boots popping out of the ringing elevator.

He carried a toolbox in his right hand and a cell phone in the other. He was nodding, as if following some sort of instructions. His eyes were large and palely grey. His long, black hair rolled down past his shoulders and were neatly folded into a ponytail.

As soon as Ino had walked into the hallway he glanced up at her and put down his cell phone. "Evening m'am," he replied creepily, "the elevator's ready now. Just finished it up," he said as he placed some sort of electronic remote into his toolbox before locking it up.

Ino eyed him carefully, something was queer about him, and what was that remote he was putting into his toolbox? Ino shook her head. She was being silly and kinda getting a little paranoid, a probable symptom of a lack of sleep. The man was just being nice. No need to go crazy over a little remote now was there?

"Oh, thank you, have a good night," she smiled back towards him.

She pressed the down button, it illuminated brightly, echoing through the dimness of the hospital hallway. The man had left already, and she was left waiting in the eerily silent hall for the elevator. The few seconds it took the elevator to reach the level seemed like hours to Ino. Each sinister second ticking away, as if mocking the little sanity that was left in keeping her normal.

Finally the elevator door beeped, and the doors squeaked open. A musty, plastic smell wavered through the air and tingled Ino's nose. She walked in, her heels clicking loudly against the hollowness of the hallway. The door closed behind her and clicked together.

The slow whir of the elevator going down soothed Ino's tense nerves. _Everything will be okay_, she thought to herself reassuringly. Suddenly, the elevator stopped abruptly in its tracks. The sudden jolt of the elevator stopping awoke Ino out of her thoughts. She glanced around the elevator, she looked up, she hadn't reached ground floor yet, it still said that she was on the second floor.

_Is the elevator broken?_ She looked around for some clues. She pressed her fingers repeatedly on the "open door" button, but it wasn't working. The elevator was jammed. The lights began to flicker slowly, the electricity dimming down. She was locked inside of the elevator, and the power was going out! She needed help! Immediately! She nervously looked at the emergency panic button. _What the hell is the point of pressing the stupid emergency button if the power is out in the god damn elevator!_ she thought angrily.

Ino grabbed her cell phone from her back pocket, about to dial 911 when she heard it. She hadn't noticed it before because of the noises the elevator was making, but she could hear it clearly now. A low beep was echoing in the silence of the elevator. _Beep, beep, beep…._

That's when Ino saw it. Two bright red numbers shone clearly through the blackness of the elevator. _30….29….28…._, every number down was a new beep. Ino stared wide-eyed, her mouth gaping in horror. She quickly grabbed her cell phone and dialed 911, "HELLO! HELLO! POLICE! HELP ME! THERE'S A BOMB IN MY ELEVATOR!"

-----------------------------------------

**IMPORTANT:** **heyy readers! I have an important message here for you guys. Due to the lack of reviews I'm getting, I'm having second thoughts about writing the next chapter. I put a lot of effort into each chapter and all I ask for is a review. This doesn't seem to be working since I only have four reviews. I don't see a point in writing if no one bothers to give feedback on the effort I put in. So here's the deal, I have four reviews right now, **

**FOR THE NEXT CHAPTER TO BE PUT UP, I NEED AT LEAST 10 MORE REVIEWS,**

**that makes an overall of 14 reviews. Otherwise I'm gunna quite writing the story and I'm not putting up the next chap. It's for you guys to decide. Yes, I know I'm evil. ) **


	4. Chapter 4

_Chapter 4_

Ino pounded heavily onto the steel door. Her heart was pacing, the timer was ticking and she was delirious with fright.

"M'am where are you?"

"St. Peter's hospital! HELP ME! COME QUICKLY!"

"Don't worry M'am we have the bomb squad on our way! We just request you to stay put…"

"How the fuck can I stay put! There's a God damn BOMB in my fucking elevator you dumbass!"

"M'am calm down please. In less than 10 seconds the bomb squad will be there. It shouldn't take more than 20 seconds max to save you."

"I ONLY HAVE 20 SECONDS LEFT!"

"They're on their way," then the phone hung up, the shrill drone of the dial tone beeping loudly in Ino's ear.

Ino nervously looked at the bomb on the elevator floor…_20…19…18…17…_ What was she supposed to do? She was going to die! Ino pounded heavily again and again on the door. Her tireless efforts going to waste. _16…15…14…._

Ino tried to buy more time, she fondled with the wires, moved them around, even attempted to cut some of them, but it was to no avail. _13….12…11…._, the time trickled away like one who meagerly attempts to hold drizzling sand in their cupped hands.

_10…9…8…_ _this is it, I'm going to die_, she thought to herself. _What am I going to do? Will it be painful?_ _7…6…5…_She had given up hope of saving herself. She knew that her feeble efforts were to no gain. She might as well just give up now and let the flow of time engulf her in her fate. _4...3..._ But she had so much unfinished business to do, and she still hadn't unveiled her secret with Sakura. For the whole month that Sakura was unconscious she had been eager to tell her_…2...1…_she was pregnant_…0_.

Boom.

-----------------------

Naruto slowly paced the floor. His leather shoes pounding on the shiny wooden floor. His nerves were tense, his body was exhausted and now someone's life was in danger. Just a few minutes earlier Sasuke had called. _Well….at least that solves one part of the mystery, Sasuke Uchiha is alive_.

He looked up at Hinata, who was standing nervously near the entrance of the door after hearing their conversation. She had heard everything, she wasn't supposed to, but she did. And now he had scared the crap out of her.

"S-S-sir…" she asked anxiously.

Suddenly breaking the eerie silence that had swallowed the stillness of the air, Naruto raised his head in question, "Yes," he replied.

"What are you going to do now?"

"I-I…I don't know Hinata. I'm so confused. But I don't want to give up the case."

"But sir, someone's life is on the line!"

"I know, but I think that's just an empty threat. I mean, does he really think that can stop me from solving this case?"

"Sir, I know that you really want to solve this case, but I don't think you should take this guy for granted."

"I dunno, okay let's do one thing. Take the voice recording machine and take out the tape. We'll listen to it right now."

"Okay," she said obediently as she walked over to her desk outside Naruto's room. She slowly pressed the "eject" button and the machine's sluggish creaking could be heard as it rewound the tape. After a few seconds, the old machine groaned and ejected the large tape.

Hinata picked it up and walked over to his desk, slowly examining the tape's clear plastic in her hands. _In this tape, there could be a lot of information that could break the case_.

"Hand it here," Naruto motioned as he held his hand forward to take the tape. He opened his drawer and took out an old, grey tape player. The buttons' names had been scraped off from being overused, the antenna sticking out in a crooked fashion after being jammed from one of the rookie detectives by accident. Naruto pressed the eject button, and gradually it opened.

"The police department needs more funding eh?" Naruto joked as he inserted the tape and pressed the play button. Hinata gave a tense laugh, waiting in anxiety for the tape to play.

A low, buzzing noise came from the tape player -that was it. Naruto looked up in confusion at Hinata, as if she knew what was going on, but she shrugged as well.

"What's wrong..?" he said in confusion.

"Maybe it's because this is the old model, should I get the new one from the sergeant's office?" Hinata suggested.

"Ya, I think so," he replied.

Hinata walked out of the room hurriedly, not wanting to wait another second. Quickly getting the new tape player from the sergeant's office, she rushed over back to Naruto's room, placing it on his desk. Automatically, Naruto hooked up the wire to the outlet plug and inserted the tape inside- and pressed play.

Buzz.

"What the hell!" Naruto said as he jumped up irritably, raising his hands in frustration.

"I dunno," Hinata said, fidgeting with the controls, trying to get something to play. But the only thing that managed to get through was buzzing. She was confused as well. _Wait…maybe…_

Hinata looked up worriedly at Naruto, "Sir, I might have an explanation," Hinata said, "Just a minute." She once again walked out of Naruto's office, towards her desk. She walked over to her filing cabinet, running her fingers down the letters from A-Z that had been written on post-it notes on each separate cabinet.

"C…C….C," she muttered under her breath, as she ran her fingers through the cabinet marked _A-D. _"Ah-ha!" she said as she pulled out a cream coloured folder from the cabinet. Written messily on the front was "CCM" in bold, black letters.

She walked back to Naruto's room and dropped the file onto his desk. "Here," she said.

"What is this?" he said curiously.

"CCM, Communication Concealment Mechanism. I just got the data a few weeks ago. Seems like some enterprising company has come up with a prototype that can actively conceal tapped calls. It sold it to the government for quite a bit. It's a brand new program that hasn't even come out onto the market yet. It can effectively scramble the connection that is made between a phone call that is being tapped so that when the tape is played in the end, it doesn't work."

"Are you sure?"

"It can be a possibility. I mean, somehow someone could've gotten a hold of this program and sold it on the black market. I mean, this has happened before, with the Fire Targeting Rifle, TYU's and Network Service Conductors. It could have happened here also."

"So is that the reason that we're hearing the buzz instead of the actual conversation?"

Hinata opened up the folder and looked in. She took out a report sheet and laid it onto Naruto's desk, pointing at the descriptive paragraph. "See here?" she pointed, "It says that it scrambles the telecommunication message into separate pieces of data. Then it randomly places it so that the conversation doesn't make sense."

"Well this is just fucking great," Naruto said sarcastically, rubbing his temples irritably.

"Wellll….all isn't over though," Hinata said.

Naruto looked up from his desk, "What do you mean?"

"Well, there are some other data sheets in the folder. It says here that there is a reboot program available that can reorganize the data back to its original context."

"Where can we get this program from?"

"It says here that it can be bought from the same company that created the program in the first place."

"Well then, what's the company called, we'll call them up and ask them for an order. It won't matter about the price; we can put it on the government's tab."

"It says that the program was created by a company called Orichimaru Enterprises."

-----------------------------

Boom.

The whole hospital shook horrendously, the walls shaking, the beds jumping and the many patients waking up from their sleep. One of them was Sakura.

She jolted awake. All she could hear were people yelling and screaming to remove the patients, loud sirens in the background blaring loudly and doors being broken down. The nurse from earlier bursted into the door, panting heavily, "Sakura-Chan, we must leave immediately!"

"W-what's going on?" Sakura said in fright, her sense of security crumbling slowly.

"No time to explain Sakura-Chan. Even I myself don't know the details. The only thing I know was there was an explosion. I was given orders to remove all able-bodied patients who are able to walk out of the hospital immediately."

A middle-aged man peered through beside the nurse, looking at her face angrily, "Hey lady- what the hell are we still doing here! Aren't we supposed to be out of here by now?"

"Sorry sir, just a minute. Just getting the last of the patients out," she replied, "Let's go Sakura-Chan, for your safety!" she urged.

Sakura hurriedly got out of her bed, not bothering to put on her slippers. She ran over to the nurse and walked out the doorway. What she saw was utter hell.

Paramedics were frantically running through the wrecked hallways. Patients in wheelchairs and hospital beds were being rushed out and down the stairs. Some patients were running haywire, while police officials yelled orders through walkie talkies. Firemen were running up the stairs with oxygen masks, handing them to the weaker patients. Wires were dangling from the broken ceiling and sparks were flying everywhere. Nearby a fire was emerging, firemen frantically attempting to put it out before it spread any further.

Fear struck Sakura deep in her heart. She had never felt so insecure in her life. She followed the nurse down the stairs. "Why can't we use the elevator?" she yelled out to the nurse.

"It isn't working, that's where the explosion occurred, near the second floor," the nurse said hurriedly as they made it down the first set of stairs.

Sakura looked up at the sign above her, it said _Second floor_ on it. Suddenly as she passed by the open door leading to the second floor, she stopped dead in her tracks. She froze in sheer terror. Rubble littered the hallway in large piles and cables bursted out an open hole in the wall, where the explosion had occurred. That was where the elevator was. That was not all. Blood was splattered on the walls, glimmering in the heat of the roaring fire.

Someone had died.

Firemen and paramedics were crowded around a large pile of rubble. Sakura looked at it carefully and there near the corner of the rubble, a bloody arm stuck out. Absolutely disgusted, Sakura looked carefully at the hand of the arm sticking out. On it was a ring that was caked in dust and blood. It looked oddly familiar to her. Suddenly she gasped in terror- that was the friendship ring she had gotten Ino for her birthday last year!

Sakura screamed deliriously, "INO! INO!" The paramedics turned to the ravaging patient they saw at the open door that was running towards them.

"Can somebody PLEASE handle that situation?" yelled out an irritated firefighter removing the rubble near the elevator, "There's already enough confusion as it is, we don't need some crazy woman here now!"

A paramedic nodded obediently and ran over to Sakura, grabbing her arms and looking her in the eyes, "M'am listen here! You have to leave immediately for your own safety!"

"I CAN'T! THAT'S MY FRIEND! THAT'S HER UNDER THE RUBBLE!" she yelled hectically, heated tears streaming down her cheeks.

"M'am you have to leave NOW!"

"Sakura-Chan!"

Sakura turned around, behind her was the nurse that had told her to leave, "Sakura-Chan, we have to go right now!" she yelled. She ran over to her and grabbed her arm. Hurriedly she pulled the sobbing Sakura through the door and out of the hospital.

--------------------------

_Ring…..ring…..ring…_

The phone rang in Naruto's office. "Weird, who could that be? Hinata, can you get that for me?" Naruto said as he studied the CCM file lying on the desk. Hinata dutifully walked out of the room and picked up the phone.

"Naruto Uzumaki Office, how may I help you?"

"Inspector Uzumaki please," a dark voice echoed through the other line.

"Actually he's busy at the moment, can I take a mes-", Hinata was stopped short.

"It's Sasuke."

Hinata almost dropped the phone in horror. He had called _again!_ What was this man thinking?

"Just a minute," she finally managed to say. She ran over to Naruto's desk, "Pick up the phone, it's Sasuke."

Naruto jolted his head up, "What the hell? What does he want _now_?"

"I don't know, but he seems eager to talk to you"

Naruto nodded hesitantly as he picked up the phone and pressed the blinking red light. "Inspector Naruto Uzumaki speaking."

"Ahh, Inspector Uzumaki, long time no talk," Sasuke said, laughing coldly across the line.

"What do you want?"

"Oh, I don't _want_ anything Inspector. I just came here to inform you. A little update you can call it."

"What do you mean?"

"I'd suggest you to turn on the news channel, right now."

"What the hell ar-"

"Channel 6."

Naruto stared wide-eyed at Hinata in utter horror. _He hadn't really…._ "Hinata, turn on the TV, go to channel 6!"

"But-"

"NOW!"

Scared, Hinata quickly walked over to the TV that had been placed on top of the filing cabinet in his office. She turned it on and hastily changed the channels until it was on 6. A professionally dressed woman came onto the screen, standing in front of a blazing building where several firefighters were hectically scrambling with hoses and equipment into it. On the bottom in big bold red letters was written- BREAKING NEWS.

"Good evening ladies and gentlemen, I am reporter Tenten here live at a scene of breaking news. I am here at St. Peter's hospital where a reported explosion has occurred, injuring more than 20 patients and killing more than 10 people. The explosion is said to have been the result of a bomb which was said to have been placed in a descending elevator, sadly where a civilian was caught directly in the blast, immediately killing her. Her name is said to be Ino, the last name not sure of at the moment…police say it has a high probability of being an extremist terrorist group…"

"You bastard!" Naruto yelled through the line, "You fucking KILLED her!"

Sasuke laughed malevolently through the line, "Ahh, Inspector, I told you. I take everything seriously. You should have listened to me…"

"How could you KILL innocent people? Those people never did anything to you!"

"Ahh, but the one in the elevator was quite annoying. I thought I should've finished her off anyways. Listen Inspector, I thought this would wake you up. Quit the case. Or else next time it will be worse, more injured, more dead. It's completely your decision. I'll call back in 5 minutes to see what you think." And with that the phone went dead.

Naruto stared horridly at the screen. _What the hell had just happened? Ino had died! And it was all because of him. Innocent people had died because of him. Because he was being stubborn_ _and he didn't want to quit the case. No…no….I won't let something like this happen again….never….that stupid bastard!_ Naruto sat at his desk, rubbing his temples in concentration. He had to do something!

Suddenly the phone rang, breaking Naruto's guilty trail of thought, "Sir, it's Sasuke again, he's asking if you're going to quit the case…"

Naruto looked up at Hinata. He could tell that she was scared out of her mind at the moment. He sighed heavily, "Tell Sasuke- I'm quitting the case…"

------------------------

**A/N- Yay! End of chap! I hope you guys liked it! I would REALLY like to thank all the people that reviewed! I really appreciated you guys taking the time to review for me, I was seriously thinking of quitting, but because of you guys I didn't, and for that I wrote a very action-packed chap! I need those reviews to see if people are really interested in my story and if it's worth writing about! Thanks a lot guys! Once again I will need **

**10 MORE REVIEWS FOR THE NEXT CHAP!**

**I'm setting a standard for each chap as 10 reviews, so I know people are reading, and guys, you can put constructive critism in it as well, I'd appreciate it also if you guys could tell me anything to improve! **

**ALSO- **

**Special thanks to Doggybites, Sari-chan and Dreamerbaybee55 for your awesome reviews! It really made me feel special! yay! Please keep reviewing! I luv ALL you guys!**


	5. Chapter 5

_Chapter 5 _

Hinata nodded understandingly. She spoke directly into the phone, "Did you hear him?"

"Why yes I did. I'm glad to hear it. Will you do me the honour of allowing me to speak to Inspector Naruto, Hinata?"

Hinata gasped loudly, "How do you know who I am!"

"Honey," he replied slyly, "I know everything…"

Frightened by his subliminal threat, Hinata quickly handed the phone over to Naruto, "He says he wants to speak to you," she muttered coldly.

"Hello," Naruto breathed heavily across the line in anticipation for the dreaded answer. He tried to calm his nerves; he knew what he was doing. Everything would work out just fine.

He heard a low giggle wriggling through the line. "Well, well, well Inspector. So you've finally cracked? A smart move I must say, a smart move."

"What the hell was I supposed to do? You were killing innocent people, I can't allow that."

"I think you've made a wise choice Inspector," Sasuke retorted, "I just wanted to let you know that I _will_ keep my promise…as long as you keep yours."

"Promise in terms of what?"

"If you drop the case, I'll stop hurting innocent people. It's quite simply actually. We'll all just pretend there was no case in the first place now shall we? Just let time bury it into its 'unsolved' grave."

"Fine. If that's the way you want it, then that's the way it will be. "

"Excellent. Let's hope that this is the last time we shall ever talk. If you hear my voice over the phone again, let's just say that it's not a good sign…for you."

---------------------------------------

Sakura lay trembling on top of the four post bed in her apartment room. She had been sent home after yesterday's terrorist explosion, it being noted that she was "physically able to resume her prior lifestyle". Too many things had happened in the past few months that she had never expected to have happened in her whole entire life. Ino was dead! Her best friend had just died in an explosion, she had been betrayed by someone she thought loved her, and now she had just gotten a call from Inspector Naruto saying that the case on Sasuke Uchiha had been closed!

Suddenly a shadow emerged slowly against the dark wooden wall. Sakura sat rigid against her mattress, not moving a muscle, stiff with fear. Slowly the shadow skulked against the vincity of wooden grain, edging closer and closer towards her bed.

She gave out a loud shriek as something jumped on top of her. Then she stopped and looked in her lap, there sat a little stray mouse. She sighed heavily in gratifying relief. Thank goodness. Sakura looked up from her lap into the mirror sitting in front of her bed.

Her pale face reflected through the dimness of her room. Baggy circles were under her eyes and her hair had been scruffily placed into a messy and quickly done bun. _What has become of me? Am I going crazy or something?_ She began shifting tufts of her hair down to her shoulders, removing it from her bun. Slowly, she untied her silky hair and let her long tresses fall slenderly down her back.

Sakura looked at herself in the mirror and smiled slowly. _Well, at least my hair's the same_. She moved her gaze to the floor where the mouse that had been in her lap earlier on had quietly scurried away. As she scanned the floor for the stray one, she came across a small locket that was placed on top of her desk table.

She gasped loudly in shock as she picked up the gold locket and placed it in her hand. _Could this be the same locket….._She trailed her hand over the Victorian carvings that had been intricately engraved into the front of the golden locket, and slowly edged her fingers towards the tiny latch that opened it. It was the same locket. As Sakura opened it, she looked at the left side of the locket; in it was engraved beautifully in elegant cursive: _To my darling Sakura, you are the cherry blossom of my life, Love Sasuke_.

A salty tear slid down Sakura's trembling face. Her lips were pursed in frustration and utter hatred for the man that had ruined her life. Sasuke Uchiha. She could remember the day when her world had come crumbling down….

_Sakura sat on top of her living room sofa. Her face buried in her lap, depression and self-hatred surging through her veins and infecting her with a heartbreaking sickness. Heated tears welled up her eyes and pooled down onto her lap. Even though he had died more than two months ago, the thought of him never left her mind. _

_She had loved him. She had loved Sasuke Uchiha. She had loved him with all her might, with all her strength, with all the happiness that she had. She knew that he was the one. That night when he had died, that was the night when she was going to tell Sasuke everything. Tell him about how she felt about him, and how she had never let him stray out of her mind. _

_And now? What had she left of him? Tattered fragments of memories where she had not summed up the courage to tell him? What hurt her the most was not the fact that Sasuke had died. No, it was the fact that she had not been able to tell him how she felt about him before he had died. Imagine, imagine how different things would have been if she had told him? The pang of insanity twisted the delicate chords of Sakura's heart, banging loudly into her, trying to get in. _

_She now knew the meaning of loving someone so much, that it hurt. _

_Suddenly there was a loud knock on her apartment door, "Who is it?" she managed to say, choking back tears to reveal her cracked voice. _

_No answer. _

_Again, a loud knock banged on the door, "Okay, okay I'm coming," she said irritably as she got up from her sofa to open her door. "Gosh, people these days, they can't even say who the hell they are!" she yelled as she angrily swung the door open, "What is-"_

_Sakura stopped dead in mid-sentence. Her mouth open with shock. In front of her stood- Sasuke?_

"_S-S-Sasuke" her tongue stumbled in confusion, her mind not able to understand the completely improbable situation that had unraveled before her eyes. There in front of her in flesh and bones was the man that had died in front of her eyes. Maybe…maybe it wasn't flesh and bone. _

_Maybe what was standing in front of her was Sasuke's spirit? Returned from his unmarked grave to haunt not only her memories, but every single breath that she had left in her for this life. . _

"_Ahhhhhhhhhh!" Sakura screamed loudly. Startled, the 'spirit' Sasuke took his hand and covered her mouth, urging her to stop. Sakura's eyes widened with horror. He could touch her with his hands! Then that meant he wasn't a…._

"_PLEASE- Sakura! Don't scream!" Sasuke whispered hoarsely as he stared deeply into her eyes. He pushed her into her apartment and shut the door quickly behind him. _

_Sakura stared in dismay at the person in front of her, "Who ARE you?"_

_Sasuke looked wide-eyed into her eyes, "Sakura, it's me, Sasuke."_

"_B-b-but you DIED," she said exasperatedly. _

_Sasuke sighed loudly, revealing a small tinge of pain, "Listen, Sakura, that night that you saw my body, that wasn't me. I never died that night."_

"_What are you talking about? I saw your body on the ground in the rain!"_

"_No, nobody saw it. You only saw a body covered with a white sheet. You never actually SAW me."_

"_That's because the paramedics said that your face was so beaten up that they couldn't recognize you"_

_Sasuke heaved a sigh, "No, you've got it all wrong. That whole situation with me dying, and Gaara killing me, that was all a hoax. I made that plan up. I **faked **my death."_

"…_..what!" Sakura bellowed loudly. _

"_I-I-I know it's a lot to take in at the moment. And you must be thinking that I'm crazy, but you've got to believe me! I did all of this because I had to!" _

"_You HAD to? YOU HAD TO! What the hell are you talking about? Were you OUT OF YOUR MIND SASUKE! Do you know how many days I've been at home, crying until my throat was dry, until there were no more tears left in my eyes, until I couldn't even **speak** because of you!"_

"_Look, I'm really sorry, just let me explain…"_

_Though before he could speak, Sasuke was cut off, Sakura yelled in outrage, "SASUKE! What madness made you think that this was okay! Do you know how much pain we had gone through these last two months?" _

_Hot tears swelled down Sakura's face. He had never seen Sakura cry before. He had never expected her to cry. His heart skipped a beat, as he looked into her tattered eyes. _

_Sakura stopped short in sudden realization, her rage quickly washing away, Sasuke was alive? He hadn't died in the first place? She didn't care about how he had managed to live, all she cared about now was that he was alive! This was the happiest day of her life! _

_Sakura ran wildly towards Sasuke in joy, locking him in a tight embrace. Sasuke stood rigid in shock, why her sudden change of mood? _

_Sakura finally looked wide-eyed into Sasuke's eyes, "Don't ever leave me again," she whispered. _

_Sasuke looked back into her eyes, "Listen Sakura, that night, that body wasn't mine….it was Gaara's."_

_Sakura looked up horridly and let go of her grasp, "What!" _

"_I-I had killed Gaara instead and ran away. The paramedics that came- I had paid them to say that it was actually me who died. I ran away before anybody could catch me. That's why nobody ever found Gaara, because he had died that night instead of me. I had been planning that night for months."_

"_Y-You killed Gaara!" Sakura said in sheer shock. _

"_I had to Sakura, I was in a lot of trouble at that time, I had no choice. There were some things going on in my life that you wouldn't even dream of." _

"_B-but the paramedics showed me your ID. The doctor at the hospital even told me about your autopsy….why did you do this Sasuke?...WHY!"_

"_Sakura," Sasuke motioned towards her, sitting down on the sofa beside him, "My life was in danger, and the Knivez gang was after me. I was seriously in debt. They said that unless I paid them back, he'd hurt all the people that I cared about in my life- and I didn't want that to happen." _

"_The Knivez? You mean the LA mafia that has a hold of the southern region! How did you manage to go into so much debt!"_

"_That I cannot tell you, but I'm in deep trouble right now Sakura. I need your help," Sasuke said as he looked beggingly into her eyes. _

"…_mine?" she answered in disbelief, "why me?"_

"_Because you're the only one that can help me Sakura. You are my closest friend. When I had pretended to die that night, I took refuge with a man named Orichimaru. He was my master and he took great care of me. He fed me, gave me a place to live and in return all he asked of me was to be his servant. His right-hand man. Though recently he asked me to get this, this kind of necklace," Sasuke picked up a photo of a beautiful diamond necklace and showed it to Sakura, "it's very valuable, and there's only one made in the world. The only person that has it is the leader of the Knivez. Sakura, I can't go and do this mission alone, or I'll get killed for sure. They think that I'm dead, if I show them my face, it'll all be over." _

"_What do you want me to do about it?"_

"_Sakura, I want you to promise me one thing, will you help me no matter what?"_

_Sakura stayed silent for a few moments. The reality of the whole situation unfolding in front of her. Sasuke was alive? He had killed Gaara and then ran away and joined some gang where the leader was some guy named Orichimaru and now he wanted help from **her** to go and get some necklace from the gang leader of the Knivez! Was he out of his mind! Of course she wouldn't help him! In no way, shape or form! It was a definite no!_

"_Yes, I will help you Sasuke," the words came automatically out of Sakura's mouth without her even realizing what she had just said. It seemed that instead of her brain speaking, her heart had spoken up and said it first. _

"_Thank you Sakura. You don't understand how much of a help you are to me," he smiled warmly in appreciation as he grabbed her hand and placed it gently into his. _

_-----------------------------------------_

_She couldn't believe she was doing this! She had stooped down to such a low level that it was disgusting! Yet she had agreed to it, she was a fool lost in love. Even though her mind told her no, her heart would do anything for Sasuke. Anything at all. _

_And there she stood, 342 Young Boulevard. The neighbourhood of the rich, spoiled and malicious criminals. Everyone knew that they lived here, yet nobody did anything about it. Rumour had it that the police had been paid $10 million to keep their mouths shut, and quite frankly, it seemed to be working. _

_Sakura turned hesitantly towards the black car behind her in which Sasuke sat. Sasuke ushered his hands irritably, motioning her to ring the doorbell. Sakura took a deep breath and turned around, "Okay," she said to herself quietly, "just get things over with before they get too serious." Slowly she creeped her fingers towards the bronze encrusted doorbell that resembled a 678-model high class knife. Go figure. _

_A shrill beep echoed through the house, and an intercom right underneath the doorbell buzzed to life, "Who is it?" a man on the other end asked blandly. _

"_Umm…it's me- Ursula the Exotic Treasure."_

"_Oh. Just a minute," a phone could be heard being picked up, and the guard on the other end finally said, "Boss, the whore's here. You want her in?" the guard laughed, "No Boss, I don't mean in **there**, I mean the house….ya? Okay."_

_Sakura cringed her face in revulsion, such a dirty joke- and her being called a whore? This was going too far. Sakura turned around and was about to head back to the car when she realized- the car had left. Sasuke had left her on the doorstep. "That bastard," she thought. He knew she would chicken out in the end, that's why he drove away before she could do anything. _

"_Ya lady, I'm opening the door. The Boss' waiting in his bedroom. You know the procedure," the guard finally answered. _

"_Ya…umm…of course," Sakura replied hesitantly. She was actually going to do this? She sighed heavily in disgust- she was pathetic. _

_The mechanical front door squeaked open and Sakura walked in silently. From the outside the house looked like any other rich person's house. Though when she stepped in, it looked like a palace that had been lavishly contoured to meet the expectations of a prince! _

_Sumptuous, ruby red drapes suspended from the high Victorian-style ceiling, their edges rimmed in gold fabric. Luxurious paintings of modern art hung from the engraved walls. Exotic nude statutes stood magnificently on podiums situated around the entrance hall, each encased in a delicate covering of silver. _

_At the end of the entrance hallway was a large wooden stairway, covered in lush, red carpet. It led towards the upper level where it seemed to have the same rich atmosphere that was portrayed here on the bottom floor. "Not bad for a criminal," Sakura thought to herself. _

_She quietly walked up the stairs, her heart beating rapidly underneath her silk gown. That was practically all she was wearing, except for a 'naughty' outfit Sasuke had forced her into wearing underneath her silk gown. He said that it would make her look more appropriate for the job. _

_Suddenly a loud voice bellowed from the room near the end of the stairway's hall, "Ursula? Is that you?" _

_Sakura stopped in anxiety, unsure of what to say, "Y-Yes it is……honey." Just saying those words felt like venom was arising from her throat and spilling all over her morals and principles. _

"_Well then, come on in, I've been waiting for you for quite some time now," the dark voice replied. _

_Just from the voice Sakura could tell that the person that was speaking behind it wouldn't be pretty. She slowly walked down the red carpet, anxiousness overriding her conscience. Finally she reached the half-open door and slowly pushed it open. _

_The person that stood in front of her did not seem like the leader of the most wanted gang leader in all of LA. In fact, he looked more like the nerd that used to sit beside her in Science class. He was a tall, thin man with shoulder length grey-blue hair. It was tied neatly into a ponytail and he wore large, circular glasses that took up more than half of his face. _

_He stood in front of Sakura in silent anticipation, "I have been waiting for this moment for a long time Ursula. After all the hours we have spent talking on the phone together, I knew that meeting you in person would be much more….exhilarating," the man grinned nastily. _

_Sakura grinned back nervously, "Oh man, this guy's a nasty pervert," she thought to herself. She eyed him closely, looking for the necklace. And surely, there it was, hung around his stocky neck. _

_He walked up closer to her and grabbed her by the waist, "Shall we, begin?" he smiled at her. His warm breath blew across her face, reeking of alcohol. Sakura twisted her head to the side, in silent revulsion. Little by little he began to unbutton Sakura's gown, revealing her slender neck, then slowly he moved lower and lower… _

"_W-wait!" Sakura finally managed to squeak as he had just reached her waist. "Let's start off- with a drink before we start?" Sakura looked around desperately for a drink stand. Anything for that nasty man to get his hands off of her! _

_She sighed in heavy relief, as her eyes moved upon a small tray near his bedside table. She walked over to it and picked up a bottle of whisky, "Shall we?" _

_The man raised his eyebrow in interest, "Why not?" he replied as he sat down onto the bed, waiting for her to serve him. _

_Sakura turned her back to the man and silently took out two glasses. Carefully she took out a small packet from her gown pocket and ripped open the top. On it was labeled, "POISON". Vigilantly, she poured the powder into one of the glasses and poured the whisky into each of the glasses. She silently stirred the glass with the poison in it, and she headed towards the man on the bed. _

_He looked up at the glass, as if awaking from some sort of trance, and took the glass she handed over to him. Silently he sipped the whisky, little by little. Anxiously, Sakura stared at him, waiting for him to fall dead to the ground. _

_Though it never happened, he kept sipping and sipping until he had finished the whole glass, and he hadn't wavered even a bit. "Why isn't he…?" Sakura thought, "Oh shit. Sasuke told me that it takes at least 10 minutes for the poison to work effectively. In that time he could…"_

_She looked up wide-eyed in horror. He was going to…. _

"_Hey…how about another drink?" she said eagerly. _

_The man looked up into her eyes in irritation, "Listen here. I'm paying you to fuck me, NOT to have a nice chat and a drink okay lady? I paid for you; I get to do what ever the hell I want with you!"_

_The man grabbed Sakura by the hips, and slowly unraveled her gown. The man grinned as he looked at the now scantily-clad woman that stood in front of him. His eyes widened with greed as he looked at the treasure that he had received. _

_He pushed Sakura onto the bed and slithered his face up her body. He moved his tongue over Sakura's belly, and slowly moved lower and lower, until… _

_Sakura cringed her face in disgust. She lay helplessly on the bed as the man moaned in pleasure, and the bed squeaked with the jolting motion of their bodies. The man's eyes rolled up in satisfaction, his mouth grinning wide with contentment and Sakura couldn't do anything about it. She let the man touch her where he wanted to, move his revolting body over her. His touch felt like a dagger, and every moan that he made, felt like a howling in her ear. _

_Suddenly the man stopped. Sakura looked up in blind hope, "Was it over? Is he done!" she thought to herself. The man began shaking radically, foam frothing from his mouth. The poison._

_Sakura backed away from the man as he lay in pain, his body cringed in agony. He looked up at her in hatred, knowing that she had betrayed him. Then, he stopped. His nude body lay lifeless on top of the silk bed. _

_She stared blankly at the motionless form on the bed. Poking him to make sure that he was in fact deceased. He didn't move. Sakura sighed heavily with relief. It was over. The horror was over. She had never felt so pathetic, so shallow, so disgusting in her whole life. She moved her eyes towards the man's neck, and there it was- the necklace. _

_Quickly she snatched it from his neck and put on her gown. She swiftly opened the door and ran down the steps, towards the front door. _

_----------------------_

_Sasuke sat in the idling car in silent anticipation. He looked at the beeping clock and noticed that it was now 11:00PM. Sakura had been gone for more than an hour. Suddenly he looked up as he saw a slender figure emerging silently from the mansion in front of him. Sakura. _

_He sighed in relief, she was safe. Sakura ran towards the car and opened the door, hastily sitting down beside him. _

"_Do you have it?" Sasuke asked. _

"_Ya," she replied coldly. _

"_Sakura, thank you so—"_

_He was stopped short, "Sasuke, just drive. Take me home now." she said angrily. _

_The ride back to Sakura's apartment was a long and silent one. Not a single word being spoken when the two were in the car. As soon as they reached her apartment, Sakura quickly got out of the car. Sasuke followed. _

_When they entered the room, Sakura slammed the door shut, almost hitting Sasuke on his way in. _

"_Don't EVER make me do something like that ever again Sasuke!" she hollered. _

"_I know, I know, I understand what a horrible situation that must have been…" _

"_You understand? YOU UNDERSTAND! WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU TALKING ABOUT! YOU WEREN'T GETTING **FUCKED** BY SOME NASTY PERVERT WERE YOU?"_

"_He actually…" Sasuke stared wide-eyed in disbelief. _

"_YA…he did!" _

"_I thought it would have been over before it got to that point!" _

"_He wouldn't listen! I offered him drinks and everything, but he was more interested in fucking me than anything else!" _

"_Who wouldn't be interested in…" Sasuke stopped short as he just realized what he had said._

"_EXCUSE ME?" Sakura yelled in disbelief. _

"…_.umm… nothing…do you have the necklace?" Sasuke said nervously trying to change the subject. _

"_Ya, I do," Sakura replied coldly as she took the necklace from her pocket and threw it onto the sofa in anger._

_Sasuke picked up the necklace and looked at it greedily, he looked up at Sakura, "You've done so much for me. I don't know how I can ever repay you," he said to her. Abruptly he took out a small locket from his pocket and handed it over to her. _

_Lost for words, Sakura looked at it with the beautiful engravings. She opened it, and her heart skipped a beat. Inside was written, "My darling Sakura you are the cherry blossom of my life, Love Sasuke." Before she could say anything to him he walked over to her and grabbed her slender shoulders and locked her in a zealous kiss. _

"_I love you Sakura, I love you so much."_

That's when it had all happened. He had stabbed her and then ran off with the necklace, never to be seen again. Sakura stared at the locket in her hands, fury building up inside of her. She threw the locket on the ground, shattering the frame into little pieces.

"Sasuke Uchiha, I will get my revenge on you. Just you wait."

--------------------------------

**YAY! That's the end of this chap! phew, that was long man. I hope you guys liked it. Well, I've been getting alotta questions about the kind of romance in the story. Sadly my friends, it isn't a yaoi about Sasuke and Naruto. I didn't mean to make it sound like it. Quite frankly, I don't think I would be capable of writing a yaoi. Since I don't really know much about these kinds of relationships, I think my writing wouldn't be that great. It kinda turns me off when I think about a Sasuke and Naruto romance because I love the relationship that has been portrayed in the actual anime series. Where they are rivals with one another and yet they are best friends. Sasuke's the cool, evil dude and Naruto's this guy who works real hard to get where he wants. I'm trying to do the same thing in this story with the characters. Actually, the romance is between Sakura and Sasuke, and then Naruto and Sakura. It's a tragic romance guys, I'm not really into fairytale endings. I'm real sorry if I got any disappointments for this story not being a yaoi! **

**10 REVIEWS FOR NEXT CHAP**

**- Feel free to review about any ideas or anything you might want changed (besides making it a yaoi) and I know some of you guyz gave some ideas about the story. Don't fret, just b/c I haven't used it in this chap doesn't mean I won't use it later on! There were some great ideas given out, and I'll use them for store later on in the future! Luv you guyz all a ton!**


	6. Chapter 7

1_Chapter 6 _

Sakura stared blankly at the broken shatters of glass glistening in the moonlight. Her heart thumped with

fury, the only thing keeping it pumping viciously were the drops of vengeance that seamed through her

hot blood.

Slowly she got herself off her bed and walked down the corridor through towards the kitchen. Her hollow

footsteps echoed lightly against the ceramic tiles, the clock on the stove beeping 12AM.

Her mind was restless, her thoughts scattered, but now she had a purpose. A goal to fulfill, and she

wouldn't stop at anything to get to it.

She picked up the cordless phone lying on top of the kitchen counter and opened the cabinet underneath

it. From it, she took out a small black directory, opening it, she trailed her fingers down on the index until

she stopped at the letter, "U".

She lifted the tab and swiftly turned the pages, until she landed on the number she had been looking for,

"Uzumaki, Naruto".

He had asked her to call him immediately as soon as she was discharged from the hospital. Even though

that was more than a month ago and he had called yesterday to tell her that he'd closed the case, she

wasn't going to give up that easily. She was determined this time.

Even though it was 12AM in the morning, she doubted anybody would pick up the phone this late at night.

Though she could always try.

Quickly she dialed the number, and waited in eager anticipation as the phone rung. Her heart skipped a

beat when the ring broke through in Naruto's voice, "Hello..."

"Hello? Hello Inspector-", though she was cut short when she realized that she had reached his answering

machine.

"...you have reached the voice mail box of Inspector Naruto Uzumaki. Sorry I can't come to the phone

right now as I'm either busy in a meeting or have stepped out for the day. Please leave your name, and

number, and I will try to get back to you as soon as I am able to. Thanks for your co-operation."

"Shit," Sakura muttered under her breath angrily. Suddenly the voice mail's "beep" interrupted her angry

obscenities, and she startled with surprise at the abrupt recording sound.

Attempting to keep her voice calm and confident, she cleared her throat and said, "Hi there Inspector

Uzumaki, this is Sakura Haruno calling. Earlier on today I had been discharged from the hospital, and like

you had asked earlier from me, I'm giving you a call. Though I was disheartened from your call made to

me earlier on yesterday that you had closed the case concerning Sasuke Uchiha. I am calling in an empty

plea, asking you to please re-consider this case. I don't know why you have closed the case, but I find it

as a grave injustice not only to me, but to others as well. I have important information concerning Sasuke

Uchiha that could change your outlook on the whole case. Please give me a call as soon as you can as I

would like to meet and further discuss this issue. I will be home the following week and will most probably

attend your call. If I don't answer, then you can call the SWAT team, " Sakura laughed at her dark,

sarcastic humour and continued, "I hope to hear from you soon. Until then, take care, " and with that

Sakura plopped the phone back onto the receiver.

She had done it. She had made the call. She smiled warmly with content at her small achievement. She

hadn't smiled like this in a long time. Ever since Sasuke had-

She stopped from the oncoming memory that she was about to indulge into. She didn't want to scratch

any healing wounds and uncover any stitches that she had barely managed to heal.

To take her mind off of the unwelcome thought, Sakura walked up to the bar stand beside her sofa and

poured herself a bourbon.

She quietly sipped the warm intoxicant, slowly allowing her senses to unravel. The more she drank, the

more she would forget. The more she forgot, the less the pain. It worked out well when she was drunk.

Outside, Sakura could hear a loud flaring sound of the ambulance blaring through the LA streets. Though

the sound didn't bother Sakura, she had become immune to its blaring now.

She was blissfully drunk.

---------------------------

Naruto sat idly on his bed. His head hung between his shoulders, his hands covering his face in utter

despair.

He had gotten caught into a CATCH-22, if he pursued the case, people still got hurt, if he didn't pursue the

case, people will get hurt. What was he supposed to do?

He was giving into the underworld's blackmailing. Like a fly caught in a net, no matter what attempts he

made, they were futile.

Naruto sighed heavily in desperation. He was letting the whole justice system down. His mind trembled in

turmoil, confusion charging his engines. When he told Uchiha he was going to give up the case, it was in

the spur of the moment. What he had said was completely against all the morals and rules he had forced

himself to abide by growing up, and throughout his career.

He felt like shit at the moment. Even Hinata had been startled when he admitted to dropping the case.

Her eyes bearing down into him with confusion were more than he was capable of bearing.

He glared down at his watch, it was 3AM. He needed sleep. He hadn't gotten any good sleep for the past

month and he needed to revive himself for tomorrow.

Knowing that he wouldn't be able to get a good rest without any help, Naruto opened his dresser table

near his bed and took out a pack of sleeping pills.

Popping one out of its wrapper, he placed it in his mouth, gulping it down with a glass of water. Looking at

the package, he popped two more into his mouth. Didn't hurt to ensure he had an undisturbed sleep.

Sighing in satisfaction, Naruto laid his head on the pillow. Ten minutes passed by, and Inspector Naruto

Uzumaki was running to the bathroom, his stomach on fire.

After 15 minutes in the bathroom, furiated, Naruto burst out of there, breathless. He ran over to the

dressing table near his bed and picked up the packet, which he though were sleeping pills.

"Oh shit," Naruto sighed in exasperation, reading the package- **Uncle John's Grade-A Laxatives**.

"Jesus, this is going to be a long night."

------------------------------------

_She was flying through the air, wings on her back. She was free, free! Away from her sorrows and pains, _

_she glided happily through the night sky. _

Sakura woke up, startled from her dream as she heard a loud thumping on her front door. She looked at

her watch, 12PM.

"What the hell?" Sakura said angrily as she got up from the sofa. She was feeling quite queasy from the

one too many drinks she had taken and was now starting to feel hung-over.

She dragged her feet (Which felt like bricks at the moment) lazily across the carpet and moaned in anger

for her wonderful dream being interrupted.

Slowly she opened the door, and before she could even squirm a scream, she fell to the ground

unconscious, after feeling a heavy, painful blow to the side of her head.

---------------------------

Inspector Naruto Uzumaki walked moaning into his third-floor office. Today, he just wasn't in the mood for

going to work. He was actually considering staying home today, but early in the morning, Hinata had

called him. Urging him to come to work today concerning an important voice mail that had been left for

him last night.

Steadily holding the double-double coffee in his hand (which at the moment he considered to be

discovered sunken treasure), he opened his office door and collapsed onto his office char. Not even

before checking his voice mail, a knock cam on the door, "Inspector Uzumaki?"

"Yes?" Naruto tiredly replied.

"It's me, Hinata."

"Oh Hinata, come in, come in."

Steadily, she opened the door, peering in shyly.

"Good morning Insp-," Hinata stopped as she stared surprised, "what happened sir? You don't look very

good," she said in a concerned tone.

Naruto sat rubbing his temples, "Let's just say that instead of taking sleeping pills last night, I took

laxatives instead. I was up all night running back and forth from my bed to the washroom!"

"Oh goodness," Hinata replied, but it could be clearly seen that she was attempting to stifle a smile.

Naruto looked up, "Oh, so you think that the pain I went through was funny?" he said jokingly.

Hinata looked up, startled, her cheeks flushed bright red, "N-n-no sir, I was just,"

"It's okay, don't worry about it. In fact I think it was quite funny myself!" he managed to say, smirking at

the uneasiness Hinata was feeling.

"Y-y-yes sir."

"Well now, you knocked on my door because..." he asked as he slowly took a sip of his coffee.

Realizing the cause of her entrance, Hinata finally answered, "Well, I was just wondering if you had

checked your voice mail."

"Oh yes. I was just about to get to that," he said as he pressed the blinking red light on his answering

machine.

The first few messages were either from nosy reporters or meeting dates scheduled by the

superintendent. Though what caught Naruto's attention was the last message- from Sakura Haruno.

Naruto moaned loudly in annoyance after hearing her message, "I was hoping that I wouldn't have to

worry about this for today," he sighed.

Hinata stared at Naruto, "You know Inspector, I don't think it was a wise decision to quit the case."

"What do you mean?"

"I mean that, that girl was depending on you to help her. She's been through a tough time, and you let her

down. Now that she's finally out of the hospital, she could have some valuable information."

"What are you suggesting?"

"I'm suggesting you should go meet the girl. Find out what she wants- LISTEN then make your decision."

"You think so?"

"It's the wiser decision."

Naruto grinned confirming. He had never seen this side of Hinata before. After 4 years of working

together, he thought she was no more than an extremely shy girl. But now, he had seen an affirmative,

strong and quite confident persona. He liked it. In fact, it was quite attractive.

"Sir?"

Naruto took his gaze away from the blushing Hinata, he had spaced out for a few seconds back there.

"Maybe I'll give her a call, meet her at least. I'll call her right now. Thanks for the advice Hinata," Naruto

said curly as he nodded his head in approval.

Hinata blushed, "No problem sir," she said as she walked out of his office, gently closing the door behind

her.

"Weird gal," he muttered before he picked up the phone and dialed Sakura's number.

The bell rang in Sakura's house, but no answer. Naruto tried once again. No answer.

"Hinata?" Naruto called out.

"Yes sir?" she said as she opened the office door.

"Did at any point in time Ms. Haruno call saying she might be away from the house for a certain period of

time?"

Hinata blinked, confused, "No, I don't think so. From the message she left, she said she'd be home the

whole week. Why? Something the matter?"

"Ya. No one's picking up."

"Well, you never know, she could have stepped out for a few seconds. Here, why don't I give you her cell

number, " Hinata replied, walking out of the office and returning with a file.

On the file, written in bold black letters was, "HARUNO, SAKURA."

"All her personal contact information is on it. It was made when she became the victim of a crime, "

Hinata said as she placed the folder down on Naruto's desk.

"Thanks Hinata, I'll use these numbers," he replied as he skimmed through the list.

First he dialed her cell-no answer. Her mom, no answer, her dad, no answer, and work. No answer.

Something wasn't right.

"Hinata!" Naruto called.

"I'm heading over to Sakura's place," he said as he pulled on his trench coat, "I tried all the contact

numbers you gave me and they all gave no answer," he picked up the file with the address before saying,

"I'll be back in a bit."

Little did he know that he would gone out longer than he anticipated.

---------------------

When nobody answered the doorbell after several rings, Naruto knew that something wasn't right.

He had asked the landlord to open her apartment after flashing him his badge, and he was more than

reluctant to do so. He didn't want any bad publicity ruining his apartment's reputation.

When Naruto walked in, he was astonished to see the cleanliness of her apartment. There was no sign of

a break-in and restraint made on part of Sakura.

Though she wasn't home. How weird was this?

Suddenly the phone rang. Unsure of what to do (he didn't want to invade anybody's provacy), he finally

decided to pick it up. Who knows? Maybe it could be Sakura herself.

"Hello?" he answered.

"You tiny little bastard," a coy voice replied from the other line.

Naruto could recognize that voice from a thousand miles, "Sasuke!" he said exasperated over the other

line.

"The one and only."

"What the hell!"

"I think that type of vulgarity should be protruding from my mouth don't you think so?"

"What do you mean?"

"You broke your promise."

"What the hell are you talking about?"

"Sakura called you, she wanted to meet you. I couldn't allow that."

"What? How do you know that!"

Sasuke laughed, "Inspector, I know a lot of things which you don't even have a clue about."

"Where's Sakura? You didn't kill her like you did to Ino now did you?" Naruto yelled angrily.

"On no, no, no, dear. What kind of a coward do you take me for?"

"A pathetic one."

"I'll let that statement pass. For your own good."

"Where is she?" Naruto said coldly.

"Well now. Have some patience. I thought since you broke the promise, I'd have a little fun."

"What are you talking about!"

"Sakura's with me. Right now. Say hello Sakura."

There was a shift and Naruto could hear a muffled sound coming from the other line.

"See?"

"You bastard."

"Now, now. I decided it would be fun to have a scavenger hunt."

"What?"

"I give you clues, lets see if you can figure out where Sakura and I are. Each clue leads to the next place.

Until it reaches me. Believe me Inspector, it gets harder and harder. The first clue's on the fridge. If you

don't find me in time, you never know the things I might do to darling Sakura," there was a muffled

whimpering in the background, "You have 48 hours to find me. Starting now."

"Hey!" but before Naruto could say anything more, the phone was dead.

"Shit." he yelled.

Naruto ran towards the fridge and surely enough there was a note, written in scratchy writing:

_It is in the founder's pride this city divulges, _

_His blessing will always stand strong and on look to protect_

_----------------------_

"You're a sick bastard, you know that Sasuke?"

Amused, Sasuke turned towards Sakura, he leaned down and gently stroked her cheek, "You are a prize."

"Shut the fuck up," she yelled.

Sasuke grinned, "Well now!"

"Why must you do this? Why?"

"Oh Sakura, you will never quite understand I'm afraid. For Orochimaru, for power. It's my way to the top,"

he grinned.

"Why did you kidnap me!" she yelled.

"Because...that way I can see that cute little Inspector for myself."

Sakura twisted her face in disgust, " You do know that he's straight right?"

Sasuke smirked.

"You're twisted," Sakura said in utter vulgarity.

"Am I?"

"So- what was I to you? A pawn?"

"Basically, yes." Though underneath Sasuke knew that this wasn't true. Right now his feelings were

twisted, how could he forget Sakura? That kiss that he had given her, was one kiss that he would never

forget. One kiss that would always be engraved in his heart. And now? And now that silly Inspector had

come into his life. When ever he heard his voice, his heart felt funny. The same way it felt whenever he

saw Sakura.

"I despise you."

Sasuke flinched slightly at the statement, and managed to reply blandly, "Nice to know," before he closed

the windowless room door behind him, "Good night, and don't let the bed bugs bite. I mean it."

Heated tears flowed down Sakura as she looked nervously around the dimly-lit room. And surely, there

were two large cockroaches advancing towards her from the side of the room corner.

---------------------------

**Kay, that's the end of the chap. Hope you liked it. Took alotta time to come up with this plot. Please R & R!**


	7. Chapter 8

_Chapter 7_

_Pit….pat….pit….pat;_ the slow, steady raindrops drizzled off the top of the apartment window. The dreary afternoon sky reflected the moody and unstable atmosphere that was surrounding Inspector Naruto Uzumaki.

Naruto's eyes stared down at the crumpled sheet in front of him. What did this riddle mean?

_It is in the founder's pride this city divulges, _

_His blessing will always stand strong and on look to protect_

What was he supposed to do? For the past twenty minutes he had been thinking and his brain was as confused as it was when he had first read it. In fact, it was more so than before. The founder…..the founder's pride this city divulges?

Did that mean the founder of the city? Of LA? Who the hell was that? And he was blessing the city by standing strong? Naruto shook his head in frustration, this was too much, he needed some hardcore facts. Quickly he took out his cell phone and dialed his office, "Hinata?"

"Yes? Who's speaking?"

"It's me, Naruto. I need you to do me a favour."

"Yes sir, what is it?"

"Call the LA branch library, and ask them to give me all the files they have on the history of LA, mainly, the founder."

"….why?" she asked, confused.

"Just do what I'm telling you. I'll explain when I get there, that's in about fifteen minutes. I want the files there and ready on my desk by then."

"Fifteen minutes! I'll need more time than that sir."

"That's all the time we've got. Call them and say that it is a police department order. You should have no problem then. The library's only a five minute drive from our office."

"Yes sir."

And with that Naruto closed his cell phone, "Damn it," he muttered to himself, "I should have paid more attention in history class," he said, as he walked out of the apartment door and into an oncoming taxi.

-------------------------------

Hinata rushed out of the office, confusion straying her thoughts. Why did Inspector Naruto want those files? What had happened at Sakura's house? She hailed to an oncoming taxi and got in.

"LA Branch Library. And please, hurry."

"Yes M'am."

The taxi driver wove strategically through the crowded LA streets. She could tell that this driver had much experience on these roads. In a matter of a few minutes she had reached there. Quite grateful at her luck, she asked the efficient taxi driver to wait for her while she came back. She didn't want him to leave, he was good.

Hinata stared down at her watch, good; only three minutes had passed by. She was ahead of time. She walked through the grand oak doors of the library, a cool, damp smell of aged wisdom and numerous years of knowledge alighting her thoughts.

She loved the library, and all the wisdom it carried in it -though now was not the time to be thinking of these things. She had called the librarian before she had left the office, asking her to prepare all the files for her. It would be a matter of minutes, they would exchange names, then files and she would be off. She walked briskly to the front desk and saw an old woman standing near the computer, checking in library books that previous readers had submitted.

"Excuse me?"

The librarian peered up from her brimmed glasses, "Yes?"

"Hi, I'm Officer Hinata Hyuuga. I had called you earlier asking for some files about LA's history?"

"Ah yes, Officer Hyuuga," she said as she nodded her head, "I have the files ready for you, there weren't many available, but I managed to hunt around the library system and find some," she smiled as she patted a crimson folder lying beside her.

Hinata smiled in gratification, "Thank you very much."

"Oh, not a problem," she answered kindly as she handed over the files, "I was just surprised, since you were the second person today who had asked me to see files on the history of LA," she said as she chuckled, "Don't know why anybody would be interested in this city's history. It's not that interesting."

Hinata looked up, shocked, "Someone else had asked for these files?"

"Oh yes, yes. Quite a dashing young man. He said he was doing some report on LA history and its religious statues for one of his university courses."

"…and…how did this man look like?"

"Well, I can't remember exactly. But I do know that he had shoulder-length black hair and his name….I think….I think it was Sas-Sas…."

"….Sasuke…," Hinata muttered under her breath.

"Hmm…?" the librarian asked.

"Oh, nothing," Hinata said, "Once again, thank you very much," she smiled as she waved off towards the oak doors.

"Your welcome darling, anytime."

Hinata smiled, and hurriedly walked out the door, into the awaiting taxi that lay idling on the side street. The taxi driver seemed to have opened up today's newspaper, and was comfortably reading it with his legs spread up upon the dashboard.

She opened the taxi door, and the driver got up, startled at the sudden movement into his car. He looked into his mirror and asked, "Where to?"

"Back to the office. Promptly."

"Yes M'am," he answered curtly as he sped off into the crowded streets.

-----------------------------

Hinata anxiously paced the floor of Naruto's office, the library's files held tightly in her hand. Sasuke had been to the library? And had asked for the same files? What was going on?

Suddenly the door burst open and Naruto stood panting at the front door. Drops of rain dripping off of his blonde yellow hair, his rain coat drenched. Naruto looked up at Hinata and asked hurriedly, "You have the files?"

"Umm…yes sir."

"Hand them over here," he said pointing to his desk as he took off his jacket.

"Want me to get you some coffee?"

"No time," he answered briskly, opening the folder in front of him.

Pouting in frustration, Hinata finally asked, "Will you mind telling me what's going on?"

"Not now, later."

Hinata slammed her hand on top of the folder on Naruto's desk, glaring into his face, "No, now! You call me at 6 in the night telling me to get some files all the way from the library in fifteen minutes, you come ten minutes late and when I ask you what's going on you say later? Do you really expect me to be _that_ patient!"

Naruto looked up and sighed, "I'm sorry. It's just that so much has gone on since I left the office."

"Will you mind telling me! I could help."

Naruto explained the whole situation with Sakura not picking up the phone, Sasuke calling and telling him about finding Sakura in the next 48 hours. Finally Naruto placed the crumpled sheet of paper with the riddle onto the desk.

Hinata, shocked, slowly picked up the sheet and read it over, "What is this supposed to mean?"

Naruto irritably rubbed his temples, "I don't know damn it! I've been trying to figure this thing out for hours!"

Hinata narrowed her eyes in concentration. If there was one thing she was good at, then it was analytical thinking. It was why she had been hired to work for Inspector Naruto in the first place. When ever he got evidential information, he would always hand it over to her to look for any other clues he might have missed out on. Even though Inspector Naruto was extremely clever and cunning, being able to catch tiny details and analyzing them, wasn't quite his thing. No wonder he hadn't figured the riddle out.

_It is in the founder's pride this city divulges…._ Hinata muttered to herself_….the founder? Who was the founder of LA?_

"Would you please give me those files?" Hinata asked curtly.

Looking up from the sheets, Naruto shrugged in surrender and handed the file over. Hurriedly, Hinata scanned the files that the librarian had given them. Suddenly she gasped, looking up at Naruto, "Did you know that the founder of LA was a priest?"

Giving a quizzical stare Naruto replied, "So?"

"His name was Saint. Fleur-de- Grais…" Hinata said, staring hard at the sheet, "Doesn't that ring a bell to you sir?"

"Fleur-de-Grais….Fleur-de-Grais….oh yeah. Isn't there a statue of him somewhere in the city?" Naruto answered, "Hinata, I don't understand, how does this have anything to do with the riddle?"

"Sir, I forgot to tell you something. When I was at the library today, the librarian that had handed me these files said that there was another man who had asked for these same files."

"So? That could just be a coincidence."

"It was Sasuke."

"What!"

"The librarian told me that a good-looking man with shoulder-length black hair had asked for these same papers with an excuse about him doing some report for university on LA history and its _religious_ statues."

"Why would Sasuke go and ask for these same files?"

"I think it was to get information to make this riddle. It means we're on the right track. I have a hint that this place is that statue of Saint Fleur-de-Grais."

"How do you know?"

Hinata handed over a picture of the statue to Naruto. He gasped at the resemblance the statue had with the riddle. There stood a statue, no less than 30 feet standing tall in the centre of a park. It was of a luminous saint who stood draped in lavish robes and luxuries. His beautiful face was carved perfectly into the marble, his eyes closed in serenity, one hand lay clasped on his heart, and the other rose above the city, as if protecting the city. Not only that, but the statue stood facing city hall.

Naruto looked up startled at Hinata, "The symbology in this statue is unbelievable. The resemblance to the riddle is mind boggling!"

Hinata nodded in approval, "The statue is situated in a generally catholic-oriented neighbourhood. It is a very old statue, more than fifty years, but those people in the neighbourhood look up to this saint very highly."

"I never really paid that much attention to the statue. I've been in that district a couple of times for investigations, but that's about it. Are you sure there aren't any other statues in the city of this guy?"

"No. I'm positive. It says right here in this sheet," Hinata replied as she pointed to a single line on the sheet she was holding onto, "…and besides. How much more resemblance can one find with this statue? We know it's a statue because the librarian said she saw Sasuke checking out files on LA's religious statues, the founder of the city was luckily a saint, and his hand is pointing towards city hall, blessing and protecting it. You can't get it any better than that."

"I'm pretty sure it is," Naruto looked up from reading the file, "It says here that this saint guy was very proud of the upbringing of LA also. I think we've found a match," Naruto grinned.

Hinata smiled warmly, "Let's just hope this is the right place."

"Well we can only try, we've already wasted two hours on this one riddle, let's get a move on," Naruto answered hurriedly as he rushed through the office door.

-----------------------------

"What have you done Sasuke!" an angry voice screeched though the other end.

"Sir, it's nothing, nothing to worry about!"

"Nothing to worry about? Do you think I'm _stupid_? You completely disregarded my orders! I told you to get the necklace and leave the girl! Now you've kidnapped the girl and have got the Inspector searching for you!"

"Orichimaru- sama, it is nothing. The Inspector was on our backs, he was getting too much information. He is completely oblivious of the fact I can see everything that he's doing. This plan will just finish him off."

"You better damn well be right Uchiha. I don't want any publicity on this matter. I swear, if anything goes wrong, _anything_ at all. It will be the end of you," and he slammed the phone on him.

Sasuke smirked quietly, "Not to worry. Uzumaki's mine. All mine."

---------------------------------

The taxi halted in front of the grand statue. The utter presence of it taking Naruto's breath away. "It's beautiful."

Hinata quickly got out of the taxi, paid the driver and nodded in agreement, "It's true. The workmanship on this statue is one of a kind."

"Well now, we're here, I guess we look around for the other clue?"

"Maybe….maybe he'll give us a sign. I mean, how do we know this is the right place?"

"You're right, we'll look around for a couple of minutes, if we find nothing, then we'll think of something else to do."

Hinata nodded in agreement. Both scurried across the dew covered statue and began to hurriedly search the surrounding premises. After five minutes of searching, they returned to their starting spots, empty-handed. "Did you find anything?" Naruto asked exasperated.

"Not a thing."

Naruto sighed heavily in disappointment, "What do we do now?"

"I-I….I don't know," Hinata shrugged in submission.

Suddenly, Naruto looked up from Hinata and stared across the statue. There, standing in front of the statue was an elderly man, staring at them. "What's wrong with him?" Naruto asked irritably, "Can't he stare somewhere else?"

"Calm down sir. Why don't we go and ask him?"

"Whatever."

Hinata walked quickly across the lawn, and finally reaching there she asked, "Excuse me sir, I noticed that you were staring at us just a while ago. May we be of any help to you?" she asked kindly.

The man continued staring, not moving a muscle. Hinata stared at Naruto in puzzlement, feeling uncomfortable in the awkward situation they had been placed in. Suddenly, the man outstretched his hand, his palm closed, "Here," he said roughly as he slowly opened his hand.

In the centre of his hand lay a small, red box. "What is it?" Hinata asked nervously.

"For you. Man sent."

"A man gave this to you? Who? What's his name? Where did he go?" Naruto suddenly asked seriously.

"No. Here. Take," the man shook his head as he dropped the red box into Hinata's outstretched hand and turned around, "I leave."

Before the man could take a step, Naruto grabbed the man by his shoulders and swiveled him around, "Who gave this to you!" he yelled angrily.

The man stared blandly into Naruto's eyes, not a peep of emotion slinking through the walls held,

"Me leave, now."

"Stop with the bullshit old man! Who the fuck gave you this box?" Naruto shouted.

Before Naruto could say another word, he found a gun pointed at his head, with the old man behind it, "Me shoot. Leave me."

Naruto looked up hesitatingly. He wasn't armed, he had no weapons, and this was a lost battle. He sighed heavily in defeat, "Okay, go."

The man nodded in confirmation and turned around on his heel, pocketing the large gray gun into his dirty old jeans. Soon he was out of their sights, lost in the heavily crowded streets of LA.

"Well now. That was rather strange." Hinata finally answered uncomfortably.

"Tell me about it. Just forget it. Besides, we have this box thing now. Do you think it's from Sasuke?"

"I think so. Only he would pull off something that weird."

"Open it, see what's inside."

Hands trembling, Hinata slowly opened the red box. Both gasped in surprise. Inside was a regular digital watch. Except, instead of showing the time, there was a timer on, _1:03:67_.

"What the hell?" Naruto said flabbergasted.

"Look, there's a note behind it," Hinata said as she picked up a small sheet of square paper that had been intricately folded and placed underneath the watch. It read:

_A springing of youth, _

_A festival of fun, _

_This annual event, _

_Is warmed by the sun, _

_Go to the place, _

_Where their idols will call,_

_But beware and be quick, _

_For there isn't much time to save, _

_This watch is counting down_

_To these poor youths' graves_

Hinata looked up in desperation at Naruto, "Oh my God! Sir, do you know what this means?"

He stared at her blankly, "umm….no…"

"There is a bomb somewhere in this city, and this watch is counting down to its explosion- right now!"

-----------------

**ya, well that's the end of my chap. Hope you like. Also, the info and history about the founder, the saint dude- "fleur-de-grais"…ya..i made that up…lol…just to get the story going…I have no clue who founded LA….hey..just needed the plot to work! **

**PS- props to my gangsterrr brotha doggybites..lol..you're reviews always make me laugh! Too bad you don't have an account, wudda PM'd you to personally say thanks! P**


	8. Chapter 10

_Chapter 8_

Lost for words, Naruto stared blankly at Hinata, the words she had just said searing through his mind. _There was a bomb? In this city?...oh….my….god….._

"….sir…..sir?" Hinata said panicked.

Turning his attention nervously at Hinata, he stared into her eyes, blindly searching for an answer from her. Though it was inevitable, he knew that she didn't know what the hell to do either.

"What do we do?" she said.

Attempting to regain his nerves, he finally answered, "Read it over to me again…"

"_A springing of youth, _

_A festival of fun, _

_This annual event, _

_Is warmed by the sun, _

_Go to the place, _

_Where their idols will call,_

_But beware and be quick, _

_For there isn't much time to save, _

_This watch is counting down_

_To these poor youths' graves"_

"…a festival?...is there some festival that's going on around here?"

"I…I don't know sir. LA is known to have numerous festivals at one time. It would be trivial to pinpoint one 'festival of fun' from the many that are going on right now."

"Well then, who would know? We know for sure that this is at some festival, and for youths…." Naruto replied, pointing at the paper, concentrating.

"Why don't we call the LA Tourism Department? They probably know about all the current events that are going on right now."

Naruto looked up at Hinata, raising his hand, he laid it on Hinata's shoulder, "Hinata, you are genius! I don't know how I'm even in this business, without you I wouldn't be able to think up of these things!"

Hinata blushed, "T-thank you sir."

"Okay, what's their number, where can we get it from?"

"I have it with me sir. Since the police are always at big festivals and events, I'm the main person who manages the number of officers that are to be addressed from each department, and deal with social affairs concerning the tourism department."

Naruto smiled, "Once again, you amaze me."

Hinata quickly looked through her cell phone directory and swiftly dialed the number. There was a slow ringing, and soon a monotone woman appeared on the line, "Thank you for calling the Los Angeles Tourism Department. If you would like to know further information about a certain festival or event, then press 1, if you would like to speak to one of our customer service representatives, then please hold or press 0," Hinata quickly pressed 0 and waited, " Thank you, just a moment."

Soon on the other line an operator came on, "Good afternoon and welcome to the LA Tourism Department. How may I help you?"

"Hi, I was wondering if you could give me more information about a certain festival?"

"Well, what particular information are you looking for? Do you know the name of the festival?"

"Umm…..we don't know the name of the festival, though we do know that it's a youth festival."

"Is that all the information that you have?"

"Sorry, I think that's all."

"That's okay. There are a few youth festivals that are going on around this time. Do you know the date of the festival?"

"Today."

"Well then that narrows things down. There are only three youth festivals that are going on today."

"Are there any that are happening right now, or are about to start in the next hour or so?"

"Well the time right now is 2:08 pm, there was one festival that was this morning from 9am- 1pm. Then there's one that's tonight from 6pm-12am. And finally the last one is going on right now near the harbor."

"There's one going on right now? Could I have more information about that please?"

"Well, it's a youth festival near the harbor, called the Sunshine festival. It's to celebrate the beginning of summer. There are going to be water rides, food stalls and in about less than an hour there's going to be a guest celebrity appearing."

"A guest celebrity?" Hinata asked curiously.

"Yes, some band called, _The Zombie Killers_….they're supposed to be really big right now. So I'm presuming that it's a really big deal…"

"That's interesting….okay well thank you for your help, it was very useful."

"No problem M'am, have a nice day."

And Hinata turned off her cell phone and turned towards Naruto, "Call a cab, I know where we're going."

Naruto looked at Hinata, startled, "You figured it out already?"

"Ya I did. First let's get a cab, I'll tell you on the way there," she said hurriedly as she looked at the digital watch inside of the box. Slowly it ticked away, the time now _47:36:56_.

Hastily, they both ran towards the main street and called for a cab. Soon a taxi parked up in front of them against the curb and they both swiftly got in.

"To the main harbors, go to the Sunshine Festival please. And please hurry, we only have very little time, take as many detours as possible."

"Yes M'am," the taxi driver replied obediently, pressed on the gas and headed off.

Naruto turned back to Hinata, "….explain…"

Hinata looked nervously at Naruto, finally answering, "Well the operator that I talked to said that there were three youth festivals going on today. One already happened this morning, one is going to happen this night and one is going on currently…"

"So it's the one that's happening now..?"

"Yes, it's called the Sunshine festival. It's supposed to be near the main harbors. Supposedly a guest celebrity band is appearing called the _Zombie Killers_…"

"The Sunshine festival…is that implying to the part of the riddle where is says 'this annual event is warmed by the sun'?"

"Yes."

"…and the idols that are going to 'call'…those are the _Zombie Killers_?"

"Yes. That's where the bomb is. We have to get there before time runs out," Hinata looked anxiously at the digital watch counting down, 40 minutes left, "Driver, how much more time?"

The driver looked into the rear view mirror at Hinata and replied, "About 10 more minutes M'am. Traffic's a lil slow today."

"Okay, just please try your best to get there quickly."

"Hinata, why don't we do one thing, why don't we get the bomb squad to get there to the festival and then get them to de-activate the bomb. That way when we get there it'll be okay…?"

"I don't think that's a very good idea, we don't want to create a scene. This issue should have as limited publicity as possible."

"You're right…"

Suddenly the driver halted and looked back at them, "We're here M'am…"

Hinata looked around outside the window and noticed that they had reached the harbor. Quickly climbing out, she paid the cab driver, and they both headed off.

"Where is the festival?" Hinata said looking around the surrounding landscape.

Naruto pointed towards a large Ferris wheel rotating in the near distance and said, "There, see all the lights and that huge sign? Best bet it's there."

Soon both of them were running speedily across the humid docks, the familiar smell of fish and the sea lighting their noses. Finally they reached the large Ferris Wheel. Hinata looked up at the sign up above her, "The Sunshine Festival….get warmed by the sun." Even though the overplayed cliché of a slogan was on the sign, ironically there was no sun outside, and it was quite a cloudy, gloomy day.

Both of them entered slowly, unsure of where to go after entering. "Well we've gotten here so far, where do we go now?" Naruto asked blandly.

"We have to find out where that band is playing. I'm pretty sure that's where the bomb is."

"Right," Naruto said looking around, suddenly he spotted the information centre, pointing he said, "Lets ask over there. They should know."

Hinata nodded in approval, and they both headed towards the booth. There stood a tall, stalky teenager, verging between adolescent puberty and the maturity of an adult.

Naruto looked towards him and asked, "Excuse me, we're looking for the band that's playing here, _The Killer Zombies?_"

The teenager looked up at them in amusement. Two adults, both in their late thirties were asking to see a hot rock band? Smiling he said, "Why are you asking? Your kids here to watch them or something?"

Naruto looked at him annoyed, "Look here buddy, why the fuck do you care why the hell we're here! I don't have the time and the patience for your stupidity. Where the hell is that fucking rock band gunna play?"

Startled by Naruto's abrupt change in authority, he quickly answered, "Near the north end of harbor."

"Thank you," Naruto replied as he turned around on his heel before mentioning, "Also, learn to speak to adults with more manners."

"Y-yes sir."

---------------------

Hinata and Naruto sprinted across the festival grounds. Amused teenagers staring at the unusually aged pair of adults that were wandering in the vincity of their sights.

"Are you sure we're in the right direction?" Hinata said hurriedly sputtering over her breath.

"Ya I am, look ahead."

Hinata looked up ahead of her and saw another sign reading in bold red letter, "KILLER ZOMBIES, playing in 10 minutes!"

"We only have 10 more minutes!" Hinata replied anxiously.

"Okay, let's do one thing, Hinata you go towards the stage and check underneath there for the bomb, I'll go and wander around backstage for anything."

Hinata nodded in approval and they both separated. Sprinting towards the stage, Hinata ran and began to slide underneath the stage when someone pulled onto her arm, stopping her from going underneath.

Turning around, a large, overweight man in a security uniform stared at her, asking curiously, "And what do you think are doing here _young_ lady?" (clearly emphasizing the sarcasm in him saying 'young')

"I-I'm…..," completely blank on how to answer, Hinata thought back to what her mother always used to say, _Instead of getting yourself into even more trouble, just say the bitter truth…_

She stuffed her hand down her pocket and took out her police badge, "My name is Hinata Byakuya. I am an officer for LA police department. There is a bomb somewhere in this area, and my boss and I are both looking for it as we speak."

Startled, the security guard not sure of how to respond just stared wide-eyed at Hinata. Finally he replied, "Don't lie…."

"I'm not lying. I'm telling the truth. In fact if you don't let go of me right now, then in less than 5 minutes, you and every other person in this 5km radius will be blown to ashes. It's your choice, you're just wasting time as we speak right now," she replied frankly.

Panicking, he finally nodded his head in understanding let her go. Looking at his panicked face she turned to him and said, "Don't worry, everything will be fine. Just make sure you don't tell anybody else about this. We'd rather keep this private. And besides, I'll know if you told someone, if you do, don't expect yourself to wake up having a job tomorrow," smiling, Hinata turned and dashed underneath the stage.

---------------------------------

_Where is the bloody bomb?.,….Where the hell is it?_

Naruto walked around the back of the stage, not finding anything. He went through regular intensive training for these kinds of things. Though when they actually came, it was completely different.

…_okay, think calmly. What are the different models that are out there? What are the different variables that affect the position of a bomb….Damn it…I can't think of these things, I have less than 5 minutes!_

And with an even more panic to his step, he hurriedly scattered his hands near the floor of the back stage, with blind hope that he would strike lucky and find the bomb.

------------------------------------

Hinata slid underneath the stage, moving her hands across the floor. She could hear a crowd gathering in front of the stage, and the microphone turning on, the host was on stage right now. She looked at her digital watch- 2 minutes.

"Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen! Are you ready to ROCK?"

There was a loud cheer.

"Okay then, in less than 2 minutes, the ZOMBIE KILLERS will be coming on, right on this very stage!"

Once again a loud cheer.

_Okay...concentrate….where is it?_

Suddenly she saw a slight blinking red light less than 2 metres away from her. _There it is…_

She crawled quickly across the ground, ignoring the pain she was having in her scuffed knees. She picked up the bomb box and stared at it…slowly it was counting down….._45….44….43…._

_Okay, think back to training from 5 years ago…what did it say?_ _Was it the green cable or the red cable or the blue cable_ she thought nervously….

The numbers kept ticking, the red light kept blinking, and her heart was racing faster than a formula-one race car…._5….4…3…_ _Screw it, I'll just do what he told me to do…_ and with that Hinata pulled the red wire……

_Boom._

---------------------xx---------------------------

**Okay that's the end of my story! I stayed up LATE just to FINISH it cuz I promised that I would by Wednesday, technically it's Thursday morning right now (12:20AM), but oh well...I tried okay?**

**I really rushed through this chap, though I tried my best….**

**PLEASE READ AND REVIEW, OTHERWISE DON'T EXPECT ANOTHER CHAP…thnx! Xoxo**

**-xxiwritesinsnottragediesxx**


	9. Chapter 11

1_Chapter 9 _

_xx--HALLOWEEN SPECIAL!--xx_

A hollow desperation of need surged through Sasuke's veins. There were only 40 hours left, but Sasuke's urge to meet this infamous Inspector Naruto was growing more and more by the minute.

Shaking his head to ward off the thought, he looked at the crusty door in front of him. Taking out the jingling keys from his pocket, he slowly opened the rusty lock, the door screeching open. Hearing a muffled sound, he could tell that she was still alive. A good sign.

Walking over, his footsteps echoed against the blank emptiness of the room. Looking near the corner, he saw the now pale and exhausted Sakura sitting quietly near a corner. The once strong and confident Sakura he had fallen so deeply in love with was now lying helplessly in front of him- an easy prey.

Grinning he said, "I brought some food for you,"

Sakura looked at him loathingly, her eyes seething into him, "I don't want any. Leave me alone."

Staring at her frail body he answered, "You need it. But whatever you want. I don't give a shit if you don't eat." Angrily he crashed the plate on the floor, breaking it into little pieces and with that he walked out of the room and banged the door shut.

"He's so sensitive," Sakura managed to say under her huffing breath. Though she was quite glad that he had left. She didn't want him to find out what she was doing at the moment, he would have killed her. Literally.

With that, Sakura returned back to the sharp cutting ledge of the brick which had been unevenly placed in the building of the room. _…almost there, just a few more seams to cut through….and my hands will be free…_

-----------------------------------------------

_Boom._

And the crowd went wild with the big opening boom entrance of the _ZOMBIE KILLERS_. (_A/N…ha ha, tricked you guys!)_

Hinata sighed heavily in relief. She had done it! Quickly she grabbed the deactivated bomb and slipped it into her bag. She had done her job well. As she slowly crawled from under the stage, she could hear the loud cheers of the youthful crowd chanting loudly, "Zombie! Zombie! Zombie!"

Finally she saw light, and she smiled at the openness of the harbour in front of her. Though her brief moment of happiness was pointless, because she knew there was a job to be done, and there wasn't much time left to carry it out.

She looked up and saw Naruto running towards her, grinning happily, "You did it! You did it!" he yelled from across the stage, slowly giving her a cheesy thumbs up. She walked over towards him and said, "I got it. I have the de-activated bomb here in my purse," as she patted her brown duffle purse.

"Good, at least we got rid of that misery-"he stopped in mid-sentence, his brows frowed as he took his gaze towards something behind her. Hinata turned around at what Naruto was staring at so solemnly. As soon as she did, she understood his awkward silence.

The old man from before, he was back.

--------------------------------------------------

…_just a little bit more… just a little bit more_… Sakura thought to herself as she tried to numb her mind from the griping pain of the sharp brick cutting into her skin. _….damn ropes…..so bloody thick…._

She could feel her cold blood dripping down the side of her arm. A small pool had formed near the bottom of her hand and was now trickling towards her legs. Finally the rope snapped and a heavy sigh of relief exerted from her. Her hands were now free.

Wriggling her fingers away from the loose rope, she lifted her numb hand, attempting to get her circulation back into her hands. A few minutes later her hands were able to move normally, and she had even gotten some blood flow into her legs.

Getting up slowly, she silently moved her eyes around the dark room, attempting to get comfortable with the surroundings around her. _……closet on the left, no windows, door in front…._ She thought analytically as she observed everything around her…_what a bare room…_

Trying not to make a sound, she slowly took a step forward, though she was suddenly faced with a stinging pain in her foot…_what the hell?!_ She looked down onto her throbbing foot, swearing heavily under her breath. A piece of glass had gotten stuck in the bottom of her foot, blood trickling down her foot…._stupid Sasuke…why did he have to break that plate in the first place?!_

Hurriedly, she removed the bloody glass from her foot and dropped it on the ground. Slowly she began limping painfully towards the door, leaving a bloody trail behind her. When she got to the door, she slowly turned the knob, in a helplessly blind hope that Sasuke had left it unlocked, though deep in her mind she knew that he wouldn't be that foolish.

Click.

Surprised, Sakura turned the knob fully, and the door slowly creaked open. _….In a fit of rage had Sasuke forgotten to lock the door when he had left the room?_ It looked like luck was on her side today.

Being careful not to open the door too quickly, Sakura quietly peeped through into the dimly-lit corridor outside of the room. Taking a look at her surroundings, she realized that she was in a two-story house. She gazed to her left; there lay an empty room with the door wide open.

A bare light bulb was strung from the ceiling, swaying gently from left to right … _wait …. swaying …. does that mean there's…_ Cautiously she walked over to the room, being aware of her surroundings and to not make a sound. In order to get to the bare room, she had to pass the staircase that led downstairs. As she drew nearer to it, she could see a dim light shining through, down and across the stairs. There she could hear the faint sound of a computer humming and someone typing vigorously on it… _Sasuke…_

Vigilantly, she walked across the faded carpet, holding her breath with extra prudence when she passed the stairwell. The typing continued. Finally she reached the room, and she peered inside. Besides the swaying light bulb, this room was also quite bare. It was accompanied with a measly side table and a dirty mattress.

On top of the side table she could see a small black diary. Dare she open it? Shaking her head in refusal, she knew that now was definitely not the time to be curious and snooping around. She had to get out of here! Though her inquisitiveness got the best of her and she picked up the small diary and placed it inside of her jean pocket. Didn't hurt if she read it later right? There might be some valuable information in here.

Getting back on task, Sakura looked back at the swaying light bulb. Something cannot sway without there being another force moving it, in this case wind. She looked around the room questioningly, and her eyes finally set onto an open window near the far corner of the room.

Limping slowly she went towards the window. Finally getting there, she peeped out through the ledge, the drop wasn't far. The window was on top of a slightly slanted roof which was about 8ft. above ground. The jump wouldn't be that bad.

Making sure not to make a single sound, Sakura climbed over the ledge and quietly stepped onto the slippery roof. Quickly she climbed to the edge and looked over. The jump. With her foot injured like this, there was a chance that she could even break it. She didn't want to risk it- but what other choice did she have?

Nervously looking down she mentally prepared herself …3_…2…1…_ and she swiftly jumped. thud, she landed in the midst of some bushes. A sharp pain entered her foot as soon as she set her foot to the ground. Taking extra caution not to swear out loud from the sudden jolt of pain, Sakura sat down onto the cold ground and examined her foot. She wriggled it around, from side to side, up and down. It was moving. Good. And it wasn't hurting when she was moving it. Even better.

That meant that she hadn't broken it, but had just felt a sharp pain because she had landed on top of it. Good, her worst fear was over, for the moment. Now all she had to do was manage to find Inspector Naruto before it was too late. For her. How long would it be before Sasuke found out? She didn't know, and she didn't want to wait in order to find out.

Quickly she pushed herself off the ground, having no idea as to where she was going. Suddenly, she heard giggles coming from near her. Anxiously she sat back down behind the bushes and didn't dare move a muscle.

Faded voices came closer to her ears, children's voices, "Hey Joey, how much candy did you get?"

"I got two whole bags this year! An all time high man!"

"Pfft, that's nothing, try three whole bags!"

"Are you serious!?"

Sakura peeped over the bushes, from afar she saw a vampire and a bloody pirate walking in front of her…_what the hell…._ Then if finally hit her. Had she been in there for only a couple of hours? Last she remembered it was October 30th, now it was- the 31st? It was Halloween?

Sakura sighed in relief. Since it was Halloween then there would be more people around, she would be safer now. Slowly she got up when the two kids had left and walked down the street. She had no money, no place to go, no friends- what should she do?

-----------------------------------------

…_.she hasn't eaten, maybe I should go and give her some food. I shouldn't have been that angry with her,_ Sasuke thought to himself as he sat in front of his computer thinking.

It had been more than an hour since he had stormed out of the room and now he felt guilty for acting so immaturely and sensitively with her. Slowly he got out of his wheeled chair and went towards his kitchen.

He opened his pantry and grabbed a granola bar and a few cookies. _….That should be enough for now…._

He then walked over to the fridge and pulled out a milk carton. He went over to his cabinet and poured a glass of ice cold milk. Placing everything onto a tray he walked out of the kitchen and walked up the stairs.

Suddenly he looked up towards the open door that lay ajar in front of him, bloody footprints trailing towards an empty room….and an open window?

Were his eyes deceiving him or something? He walked into the empty room where he had held Sakura, "Sakura, where the hell are you? Don't fucking play games with me you understand!?" he yelled into an empty nothingness.

He frantically looked around the room, this couldn't be happening, how had she managed to escape? Suddenly his eyes were laid on cut ropes near the corner of the room…

"….that-bloody-bitch!"

-------------------------------

Sakura frantically walked into a hollow emptiness. Where was she going? She had no money, nobody to stay with, who would even talk to her? _Think Sakura, bloody think damn it!_

Her mind was numb from a lack of sleep and food; she was going paranoid or something!

"Whoa, look at that girl! Her outfits friggin' awesome! She has a fake bleeding foot and everything!"

Sakura turned around to see two teenaged kids looking at her as they walked past. Clearly she was in the festive mood. Ignoring them, she continued walked, her mind running out of thoughts. Suddenly she turned around to see a man standing near a lamp post using their cell phone.

…_idea…_

Limping over quickly she managed to catch the man when they had just finished using their cell phone. "Umm…excuse me, do you mind if I could use your cell phone for like two minutes?"

The man looked at her queerly and replied, "Why? Don't you have your own?"

"It'll just be a second. It's an emergency."

Looking her up and down suspiciously, he finally gave in to her pitiful eyes, "Okay, but be quick, it costs minutes you know."

Taking the cell phone from his outstretched hand, Sakura answered, "Thank you very much! It'll only be a minute!"

With that she opened the cell phone and began dialing Inspector Naruto's office number. It began ringing, and ringing……though there was no reply. Finally the answering machine on, "You have reached the voice mailbox of Inspector Naruto Uzumaki. I am currently not in the office and will not be for some time. If you are not in need of immediate assistance please leave me your name and number and I'll try to get back to you as soon as possible. If you are then please feel free to contact me on my cell phone at 416 785 9900 (_A/N it is purely coincidental if your cell/house number ends up being exactly the same!)_. Thank you and have a nice day."

Swearing under her breath, Sakura finally hung up the phone. She might as well call his cell phone. Looking back at the man she could tell that he was beginning to get impatient. Turning back to the cell phone she quickly dialed the cell phone number that had been given in his voice messaging system, and once again it began to ring. Though after three rings it was cut off, and it immediately went to the voice mail box.

"Shit," Sakura swore under her breath. After hearing the beep she said, "Inspector Naruto, this is Sakura Haruno speaking. I am in dire need of your help. I had been kidnapped by Sasuke Uchiha and kept hostage there for some time. I have managed to escape and now am running freely in the streets. Though I don't know for how long, I am in utter fear of my life. Please, I will be heading to your office. I will be waiting nearby there for your return! Please, please help me!"

With that Sakura hung up, and closed the cell phone. Turning back towards the man she handed back the cell phone, "Thank you very much," and with that she turned around, but before she had even taken a step, a hand was laid on her shoulder.

Turning around she looked and saw that it was the man that had given her the cell phone. Except this time he had a worried expression on his face, "Listen, I don't know who you are, and what's going on. But I kinda overheard your conversation. I really didn't understand what was going on, but you seem like you're in some sort of trouble. And that injury on your foot," he said pointing towards Sakura's bloody foot, "it doesn't look like a costume to me. Do you need a ride somewhere or something?"

Looking back into his eyes Sakura thought about what to do. Was he worth trusting? Should she ask him to drive her over to the Inspector's office? Confused, Sakura thought what the consequences were. Though she quickly shook her head. Now was not the time to take chances. She had to get out of this are as fast as she could. With her limping and bloody foot, and Halloween coming to an end, it would be no time before Sasuke would catch her. And who knows what kinds of things he would do to her then.

Finally she nodded her head, "As a matter of fact, yeah, you can help me, I'm wondering if it's not too much help to drive me somewhere."

The man looked over to her and nodded his head in agreement, "Where to?"

"584 34th Street….."

The man smiled and said, "Sure thing," and turned around motioning towards a small red car parked by the side of the street.

"Oh, and by the way," Sakura continued, "Where are my manners? My name's Haruno, Sakura Haruno."

The man turned around and grinned, "Same here, my name's Lee, Rock Lee."

---------------------------

"Neji? You know what to do?"

"Yes boss. I'll get to it right away."

"That bloody whore isn't going to get far away from me."

"Sir, how do you know where she is?"

"I can track her you idiot. Did you forget that I put the tracking device on her in case something like this happened?"

"Oh yes sir, sorry, I forgot."

"Now get out and do your job. You don't have much time."

"Yes sir."

------------------------------------

Lee parked the car in front of the office building, "We're here," he answered.

Sakura looked up at the tall structure in front of her. She'd wait here until the Inspector came back. What other choice did she have anyways?

"Are you sure you'll be fine here by yourself?" Lee asked concerned.

"Oh yes, yes. Don't worry about me. You are a complete stranger and you have done more than enough for me! I am extremely grateful!"

Lee smiled and replied, "No harm done. Okay then, I guess it's good bye. And good luck to you. I hope everything works out for you," and with that he drove off, and turned around into the next street and out of site.

Sakura stood on the empty street. There were still some kids who were roaming around trick or treating. She sighed heavily, she really did hope that everything did work out for her.

Sakura suddenly looked up and saw a young man dressed up as a robber with a face mask walking up towards her. Sakura looked at him suspiciously, "Aren't you a bit too old to be trick or treating?"

The man behind the mask grinned, "Who said that I'm wearing this to go trick or treating?" he said as he pulled out a knife and pushed her up against the wall. He lifted his mask and whispered into her ear, "We always know where you are, Miss. Sakura."

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**kay well I hope you liked my "Halloween special"… just wanted to get festive, hope you guys liked the chap…please READ AND REVIEW!**

**-xoxox xxiwritesinsnottragediesxx **


	10. Chapter 12

_Chapter 10_

_**OMGSH…I'M SO SORRY FOR TAKING SO LONG TO UPDATE! AHHHH You guys probably HATE me! I just want to apologize, I've just been so busy with school and homework and work and all that other wonderful crap. For all those readers that still read this, I cannot say how grateful I am for your patience. This will not happen again. Just a note that next week I probably won't update, I have exams coming up, but I'll try my best! Hope you enjoy the chap! Please read and review! PEACE!**_

_**-xoxo xxiwritesinsnottragediesxx**_

_PS, At the end of each chap (starting from here, chap 10), I've decided to write a little poem just to go along with the flow of the story for each chap, just wanted to let you guys know about that!_

_Xx Sakura dedicated chap! xX_

Sakura froze rigid. She knew she should do something, but she couldn't even move- fear had completely taken over her body. Her hands were trembling near her sides, a cool sweat breaking down her face…

"You thought you could get away didn't you?" the man said roughly into her ear

"I-I-I don't know what you're talking about…." She murmured.

"Don't play fucking stupid with me! Sasuke's mad….very mad. I don't think I've seen him like this since…." He stopped in mid-sentence, as if preventing himself from saying something that didn't need to be said. Drastically, he pulled her towards him, his face so close that she could see the pores on his rough skin.

"If I wanted to," he said, slowly tracing a finger over her lips, "I could do things to you that I've wanted ever since I've seen that fine face of yours. But I can't, because Sasuke wants you, and I don't want to get killed for doing his woman," he snickered, "so get into the car and do what I say, unless," he stopped and pointed his knife into her throat,"….you want this knife to go even further into that slender little throat of yours."

He pushed her forward, his hand on her back, motioning her towards a dark, black car parked near the side of the road. Sakura gulped frantically, she couldn't do anything, and her thoughts were astray. She had to go with him. Her escape had been futile. She didn't even want to begin to think what Sasuke would do to her once she got back there. So she closed her eyes and prayed. That's the only thing they hadn't taken from her, her soul.

What happened next was a blur.

All she remembered happening was the man behind her falling to the ground and yelling, "What the fuck?!"

Sakura jolted around, she couldn't believe her eyes- Lee? Then a punch. Then a kick there. Some blood spilled on the floor. Then Sasuke's thug was knocked out. The next thing she knew, Lee was holding her hand and they were both running down the street towards the corner.

He kept running, and she kept following. She didn't remember for how long they were running, but when they had stopped, it felt like she had just sprinted a 40km marathon. In front her she saw the same red car that had driven her here in the first place.

"Quick, get in," he said as he motioned her towards it.

Not hesitating for a second, she dashed towards the side door and dropped in. In the same instant, Lee turned on the ignition, and they drove off into the night.

-----------

The drive was silent. No word was uttered in the calm stillness of the car. Streetlights passed by speedily and road names were a blur. Sakura turned to Lee, who was driving with great focus on his mind. She hadn't realized before, but now she was able to analyze his features more than she could have before.

He had short, black hair in a mushroom cut and largely dark eyes that peered into the midnight road ahead of him. Though what stood out the most were his devilishly large eyebrows. Never in her life had she seen such large and linear ones on one's face. She snickered, in whole; he had quite a funny looking face.

Lee turned to her, "Why are you laughing?"

Looking up she suddenly realized that she had laughed out loud, "…uhm…nothing really…." She said, trying hard not to laugh. In her attempts she looked away and stared out through the window.

Looking at her strangely, he finally answered, "Okay, what ever you say," and he turned back driving. Sakura smiled lightly, no matter how he looked, she knew he had a good heart, that's all that really mattered.

Sakura looked up towards him and realized, "My goodness! I didn't even get the chance to say thank you! You saved my life back there!"

Without looking back towards her he laughed, "It was nothing really…"

"Nothing really? Do you realize that if you had not saved me, god knows what would have happened to me? It was more than enough to just drop me off in front of the police office. How did you know I was in trouble in the first place? I thought you had driven off!"

Lee blushed lightly, laughing, "Well, at first when I had driven around the corner, I had realized that you had left this black book here in my car. So I thought I'd turn back and hand it over to you. As soon as I parked around the corner and began walking towards the building where I had dropped you off, I saw that man standing there with a knife against your throat. Maybe it's just me, but I don't think that's a very common thing to do even on Halloween night!"

Sakura looked up gratifyingly, "I really don't know how much to thank you. If I had ended up going with that man, I think it would have been very likely I wouldn't be able to see the sunlight the next day!"

"I'm just glad I could help," he turned and smiled towards her.

Sakura returned the smile, replying, "Where are we headed to now?"

"My place."

Sakura looked at him, blushing. Only then did he realize there had been a tad miscommunication, "Ha ha! No, no I don't mean for _that_. I'm just saying that you really need to get those wounds on your arms and foot tended to," he answered blushing.

Sakura looked at him and burst out laughing, "I-I-'m sorry! I thought you had mea-nt some-thing el-se," barely able to grasp her breath. How long had it been since she had laughed like that? It had been, forever.

--------------

Lee slowly turned the key to his small, two-story house, opening the door for Sakura. Slowly, she limped inside of the clean, well-kept place he called home. Looking around, she noticed that near the entrance was a wide staircase leading up to the other level, farther down the hallway was a door, probably leading to the kitchen, and directly to her left was a cozy little living room for guests.

"Wow, you've got a nice place here," she said.

Lee smiled, placing his keys into a small bowl on a table near the door. Placing his jacket on a hook on top he replied, "I know it's kind of small, but I live alone, so I really don't need that much space to live in. This is the best I can do, there's no need to feel formal here, what ever makes you feel at home!"

Sakura smiled gently at his kindness, he really, truly was a gentle man.

"Well I'm guessing you're extremely tired. You should take a nice warm shower. I'll put the bandages on you later on, since we don't want them to come off while you're taking a shower," slowly he walked up the stairs, "follow me up here. I'll give you a change of clothes and a towel and you can head off to the bathroom up here near the right."

Nodding her head, she followed behind him. Soon he had handed her a clean, white towel and a pair of long striped pyjamas and an oversized t-shirt to wear afterwards. "If you need anything, I'll be downstairs cooking some food."

Sakura turned around, "I'm really, very sorry. I must be causing so much trouble for you! You don't have to do all this you know"

Lee turned and smiled, "No, no I really don't mind. I'm actually enjoying the company, lately I haven't been getting any guests lately. I'm just happy I can entertain somebody."

Sakura laughed gently and walked into the bathroom, smoothly closing the door behind her. Turning around towards the mirror in front of her, she sighed in shock. Now only did she realize what a wreck she actually was. Her hair had become oily and grimy, her once smooth, porcelain was now clotted with dirt. Under her eyes were dark circles, her cheeks filled with bruises from sleeping on the hard floor. She probably did need a shower.

Unhurriedly, she peeled off her old, dirty clothes until she stood bare in front of the mirror. She stood there, and stared. Her body had been used and abused in so many ways lately that it didn't even feel like hers anymore. Her stomach had become hollow from the lack of food, and her body had become filthy with grime. Looking at the dirty and soiled body she had made her remember all the dirty things she had done, hurt memories, a broken past, lost friends.

She looked up into the mirror, a salty tear strolling down her cheek. She couldn't take it anymore; she just wanted to….die. She shook her head, was she mental? Why was she thinking such horrible things?!

She had to be strong, she had to be wise, she had to beat…no…._kill_ Sasuke Uchiha. She wouldn't rest in her grave peacefully until she did. She walked towards the bath tub and turned on the hot water.

"Ahhh…." She sighed in utter bliss. The warm water drizzled over her tense muscles and relaxed her breath. Nearby she saw some shampoo and poured some onto her hand. Taking the shampoo, she massaged it into her hair. The sweet smell of tropical delight worked in perfect harmony with the cozy water raining down her back.

She didn't know why, but this was probably the best shower she had ever had in her whole life. Maybe it was the fact that lately she hadn't been able to realize that there were little things in life that made it the best that it could ever be. Or maybe it was the fact that she had been so utterly miserable and isolated that she had not known what laughing and smiling really did feel like.

What ever it was, she didn't want to think about it again. She didn't want to feel those feelings again. The cause for all this pain, for all this suffering, there was only one person. And she had to think of a way to get him back for all the shit he had done to her. Sakura tensed her face; she had to do something, _something_. She knew that after her shower she would ask Lee if she could call the inspector again. Leave him as many messages as possible until he got to her. And that black book she had found. There had to be something in there that could help her. She would look into it further on in the night.

She didn't know where she was going to be staying for the next few nights. Maybe she could ask Lee to drop her back off to her apartment tonight. But no, Sasuke would find her. He would find her even here. It wouldn't matter. She had to act quick and think of a plan.

Sakura turned off the hot water and placed her drenched foot onto the mat lying beside the bath tub. Grabbing the towel she had placed on the stand, she slowly dried herself off. She put on the clothes that Lee had leant her and wrapped the towel around her hair. Now, she looked better and much more refreshed.

_Okay_…she thought to herself…_I'm going to get you Sasuke Uchiha._

---------------

Lee slowly stirred the pasta that was in the pan on top of the stove. This evening had indeed been an eventful one. And that girl, Sakura, she was so mysterious. Who was she? Who was that guy that had attacked her? His head was full of so many questions, yet his mind was entranced.

Entranced by her utter beauty, hypnotized by her gentle nature. Even though when he had first met her on the street he was suspicious about her filthy appearance, now he yearned to learn more about this intriguing woman and help her in any way possible. He could suddenly hear footsteps coming down the stairs. She was limping.

Turning around, he saw her standing in the doorway, with her angelic figure outlining the frame. He smiled; she looked more refreshed, more awake now. It did seem that she deserved a nice hot bath. "Feeling better?" he asked politely.

She sighed, "Oh yes, very. I am really at peace now," she answered as she grabbed a chair from across the dining table, "You need any help with that?" she asked as she motioned towards the pasta being cooked on the stove.

"Oh no, don't worry about it. As a matter of fact I just finished," he answered as he grabbed two plates and glasses from a nearby cabinet. He placed them onto the table and brought the steaming pasta towards her.

Taking a spoon, he expertly placed the pasta onto her plate, and poured a chilled glass of white wine on her side. She smiled and answered, "Looks delicious!"

"Dig in," he smiled back at her.

Silence. For the next few minutes the light buzz of the running refrigerator, the smooth sipping of wine and the clanging of forks against the plate could be heard in the silent kitchen.

"You must be wondering why I had come up to you looking so beaten tonight," Sakura blurted out while eating.

Lee looked up at her; she was still looking down at her plate, not making any eye contact with him.

"I had been kidnapped. I had just managed to escape, and I needed a ride to the police station. The man who had kidnapped me was already under investigation, the inspector at that station was helping me solve the case. But just recently he had called me to tell me that he had stopped working on it. It was right after that, that I was kidnapped."

Lee stared at her in utter shock, what was someone supposed to say in a situation such as this?

"I know you don't have to say anything. I just thought that you deserved to know. You were a complete stranger and yet you helped me when I was in dire need, without even knowing what was going on with me. I couldn't ask for more from you. I already feel bad enough."

Lee kept on staring at her face. Her eyes, there was something about her eyes that reflected a deep pain, a wound that had somehow not healed. She wasn't telling him the whole story. Though what she had said already was good enough, that was all he wanted to know, "You don't need to feel bad. Just by looking at the condition you were in anybody would have helped you out in the same way."

Sakura smiled back at him. He really was too nice.

"Well now that we're done with dinner, I think we should take a look at those wounds on you."

"They're actually getting better, I don't think it's neccess-"

"Of course it's necessary. You were limping down the stairs just now! We have to make sure there isn't anything stuck in your wound. How did you get those wounds anyways?"

"The ones on my arms were from the sharp bricks I was rubbing against the rope wrapped around my arms to get them off. The one on my foot, I had stepped on some broken glass with my bare foot…"

Lee fell silent, his eyes full of sympathy, "I'm sorry you had to go through that…"

"Oh it's fine. You don't need to worry about it."

"Well I'll get some gauze and disinfectant to help with those wounds," he answered as he walked out of the kitchen.

Sakura sat silently on the empty table. As soon as she sorted things out properly with this situation and she was back to her normal life, she would definitely come back to Lee for a proper thank you.

Lee walked into the kitchen with some scissors, gauze and disinfectant. "Okay, lets start with the foot," he said as he motioned Sakura to lift her foot up. Painfully she lifted it onto the chair that was right beside her and Lee looked at it closely.

She had been cut pretty bad as a matter of fact. Even though the cut wasn't wide, it was indeed deep, and that could pose as a problem in allowing her to heal properly. Taking the disinfectant and placing some onto a cotton swab, he gently wiped it across her bare foot.

Sakura clenched her foot at the stinging pain, "It's okay, this will make sure no bacteria gets into it," Lee said. Sakura just nodded her head in approval, her eyes closed, and her teeth gritting.

Slowly he took out the gauze and lightly wrapped it around her foot and clasped it tightly with a safety pin.

Then he moved onto her arms. They were also badly cut up. Various places had been cut more than once, the brick had left some residue in some of them and it was good that he was disinfecting it at the moment. After finishing off with those cuts he looked up at her and said, "Well that's that. Now they'll be able to heal better"

"Thank you."

"No problem, well I guess you should be heading off to bed. I'll sleep here in the living room; you can take the upstairs bedroom. That's where I normally sleep, but for tonight you can take it."

Sakura looked at him, "Actually…you don't have to….a nearby hotel would be just as suitable. You've already done enough." Though she stopped, she had no money, how the hell would she be able to stay in a hotel in the first place?

"Oh don't be silly, there's no need to be so formal. Besides, I doubt you have any money on you…"

Sakura shook her head.

"As I thought-"

"I'm sorry…"

"Oh don't worry; it's nothing to be embarrassed about. I wouldn't expect anybody in a situation such as yours to have it on them anyways. Besides, you don't need to worry, I'm not that type of guy, I can restrain myself…I won't hurt you in the middle of the night or anything…"

Sakura looked up shocked, "No, no, no it's not that-"

"It's okay; I understand, just head up and get some well needed rest. You can tell me what you want to do in the morning. I'll let you do what ever you want then, is that okay?"

Sakura slowly nodded her head, what else could she do? It was already this late into the night. Besides, it didn't look like he was going to harm her or anything. She might as well give it a try, "Okay, fine, what ever you think is best. Just one more favour if you don't mind me asking, could I use your phone for a second?"

"Sure, no problem, it's over there on top of the dishwasher. Just make sure you hear the phone click when you place it back down. My phone's kind of old so I gotta take a little extra care of it!" he said laughing lightly.

Sakura nodded, she walked over to the phone and picked it up. When she heard the steady dial tone she dialed Inspector Naruto's cell number. _Ring….ring….ring….._ _you have reached the voice mail box of Inspector Naruto…_

"Shitttt…" Sakura muttered under her breath in frustration. As soon as she heard the beep she began to talk, "Inspector this is me Sakura Haruno calling, again. I am currently staying at a friend's house for the night. Tomorrow morning I will be heading off to your office once again. If you receive this message then please meet me there. I'll be waiting."

With that she hung up the phone and turned around. There in the doorway stood Lee, he had been waiting patiently for her. "Here, I have that black book that you had left in the car earlier tonight."

"Thank goodness you got that for me."

"No problem," he answered as he handed it over to her.

"Anything important in it?"

"I don't know, I haven't really looked through it yet. Hopefully it will help me out."

Lee smiled, "I'm sure it will. Well anyways, I think I'll be heading off to bed. While you were talking on the phone I made my bed on the sofa. My room is upstairs, the first right. Just make yourself at home okay?"

Sakura nodded, "Okay then, good night," she answered as she walked up the staircase, she stopped on her first step, "Once again, thank you…" she smiled back.

"Ha, no problem. Goodnight."

"Goodnight"

She slowly walked up the wooden staircase. Reaching the room on her first right, she managed to turn on the light and look at the cozy room in front of her. There was a large, queen sized bed with the most luxurious red, silk bed spreads. On both sides were a small dresser-table. Each equipped with its own table lamp.

Walking over the warm carpet, she uncovered the covers and lay herself down onto the soft mattress. She snuggled herself down under the covers until she got a cozy feeling that trickled all the way down to her bare toes. Taking the black book out of her hand, she opened the first page, and began to examine what had been written in it.

Though when she opened the first page, there was nothing there. She sat up straight in confusion, flipping drastically through the pages. There wasn't a single, damn thing in that little notebook. Frustrated, she slammed the book onto the dresser table beside her and turned off the lamp.

Huffing angrily into bed she thought to herself…_pointless……the god damn book was utterly pointless…._ before she dozed off into sleep.

---------------------

She heard a faint creaking noise. Waking up she looked at the time, 3:35 AM. What had woken her up? She knew she was a light sleeper, but of all days, she thought that at least tonight she'd be able to sleep peacefully.

Sakura froze in horror…..there was a man standing in front of her, knife held high in his hand, ready to…attack her?...SASUKE?!

She screamed in pain as the cold metal slashed across her leg.

-----------------------

Have you ever felt forgotten?

Invisible?

Alone?

A dark cape of apathy,

Hovering over,

No light is able to come through,

To shine on you?

To enlighten you?

To be recognized?

Misjudgments are of a cruel faith,

Sadness, of desire,

Saying, "Open your eyes,

And see that I am here,

Help me,

My soul is slowly aging."

Waiting for that one person,

To reach out their hand,

To understand what you are feeling,

For this life is filled with too much hurt,

To be led when you're forgotten.


	11. Chapter 13

_**HA- once again I took so long to update….gah….I feel so bad….well I hope who ever's left over enjoys! I'm almost done the story. Everything's planned out and I'm planning to finish it in another 2/3 chaps! Enjoy and please R&R **_

_Chapter 11_

Sakura screamed in pain at the large gash that was bleeding heavily on the sheet. Sasuke's vengeful eyes bore down onto her. Before she could scream again, he lunged on top of her and covered her mouth, her eyes full of fright, frantically waving from side to side.

In a rasped hush he whispered, "Don't fucking scream, if you do one more time," he pointed the knife towards Sakura's slender neck.

Sakura nodded, frightened. He looked quickly around the room; his eyes were looking for something, desperation wracking his nerves.

"Where's the book," he whispered.

Sakura shook her head. Quickly, he raised his hand and slapped her across the cheek,

"Don't you fucking play games with me you hear, where's the God damn book?"

Sweat tricked down her forehead, she moved her eyes to the cabinet beside her.

"In the drawer?"

She nodded.

"Better fucking be…" he said as he leaned forward, on top of Sakura as he reached his arm to get to the cabinet. Suddenly, "Don't move!" A loud voice came from the side of the door.

Shocked, Sasuke quickly turned to the open doorway, a tall figure standing in its vincity, buzz, a bullet whizzed by his ear.

"Get away from her!" The voice ordered through the doorway.

_Shit_…Sasuke muttered under his breath as he slowly got off the bed, both hands raised in the air. He could take out his gun, but that would require him reaching into his back pocket. Frankly, in this situation, he was in no position to make sudden movements when he was being held hands-up at gunpoint.

In an attempt to catch him off guard, Sasuke quickly pushed the small table violently to the side, away from him, in an attempt to create a distraction. Startled, Lee momentarily took his gaze away, giving Sasuke the chance to run to Sakura and grab her wrist. Dashing to the open window, for a second, he thought he had been successful, but in reality his plan had failed.

Almost as soon as the table had been pushed over, Lee ran towards Sasuke and angrily grabbed his arm before Sasuke escaped through the window with Sakura. In a defensive attempt, Sasuke quickly punched Lee across the face, sending him practically flying across the bedroom. Gasping, Lee rapidly got up, paying no attention to the gaping bruise on his cheek, and returned the favour. While Lee was retreating his hand after the punch, Sasuke cleverly grabbed Lee's protruding arm, grabbed his wrist and pulled him forward, immediately elbowing him in the head, knocking Lee out cold. Success.

Sasuke grinned as he looked over to the frantic Sakura across the room, "It's over!" he shouted dragging is feet towards her, wiping blood off his face with the back of his hand.

Panicked, Sakura looked fearfully around the room for something to save her, anything! And then she finally set her eyes on Lee's gun, which he had dropped when the two were fighting. Dashing towards it, Sakura picked up the gun, pointing it straight at him.

Sasuke froze, "Aw come on, you're not going to really shoot me are you?" he asked sarcastically, "Do you even know how to pull the trigger?"

Hands trembling with fear, Sakura knew she couldn't stall. She didn't have the strength left in her, she had lost too much blood from the gash Sasuke had made on her leg, she was going to fall unconscious anytime.

Sasuke could tell she was stalling and with a sudden movement, he ran quickly to Sakura. Emotions and logic completely void of her mind, Sakura had only one goal in her mind-survival.

When she saw Sasuke running to her, there were no second thoughts. She pulled the trigger with the last ounce of strength left in her- BANG. All she could remember was Sasuke falling to the floor, holding his right arm, writhing with pain on the bloody carpet. Satisfied, Sakura fell unconscious on the ground, every strand of energy in her gone.

-------------------------------------------

"Gah…" Sasuke moaned as he gritted his teeth, trying to manually remove the bullet from his arm under a dull street lamp.

This was fucking ridiculous, here he was with a failed mission and instead of attempting to catch Sakura again he was removing a God damn bullet!

He sighed heavily, he was too far away from his home to walk and he was in no position to drive. On top of that he had no money. He had to find refuge somewhere until morning. Where he would be able to properly deal with his wound and come up with a plan B.

Looking around he saw an empty park bench near the side of the road. That was the best he could get at the moment. He sighed heavily, desperate times called for desperate measures.

----------------------

Lee groaned in pain, his head was throbbing agonizingly and he couldn't remember why he was lying on his bedroom carpet. Moaning, he gradually opened his eyes and sat up onto the floor. He looked around the room, trying to remember what had happened, until he saw his up heaved table lying with a broken leg beside his wall. Then he remembered, Sasuke had broken into his house and had tried to kidnap Sakura….he had Sakura in his hand when Sasuke had knocked him out. That didn't mean that his plan was…successful?

"Sakura!" he yelled blankly in the room, "Sakura! Are you still here!?" he shouted, hoping to hope that Sasuke hadn't really kidnapped her.

Suddenly he heard a low moan near the window pane. Quickly he got up, almost loosing his balance, and ran towards it. Looking down he gasped in shock, there lay Sakura sprawled against the carpet, blood seeping from her gash on her leg.

How long had he been knocked out? 5 minutes? 10 minutes? 1 hour? He couldn't remember. He quickly looked at the digital clock near his bed, it read 4:10 AM, he had been out a good 15 minutes.

Quickly he sat down beside Sakura, nudging her head in an attempt to wake her up, "Sakura….Sakura….can you hear me? Sakura…." Yet his attempts were futile, all that he managed to get was another low groan of agony.

He needed to do something, she was loosing blood fast. Swiftly he got up and grabbed his phone and dialed 911, "Hello, can I get an ambulance please! It's an emergency!"

------------------------------------

The ambulance whirred down the streets, Sakura strapped tightly onto the bed and Lee sitting beside her as he saw the experienced paramedic wrap layers of gauze on top of her wound. Periodically the paramedic looked down at her leg, to ensure that the blood would not seep through it.

Lee sat tense, his hands clenched together, hoping that she would be okay, "How is she doing?" he asked for what seemed like the zillionth time.

The paramedic looked up from his check board and smiled, "I assure you sir, she is fine. She's lost a lot of blood, but that will be taken care of as soon as we reach the hospital. In fact," he answered as he looked out the side window, "We're here right now."

Quickly the paramedic hopped out of the ambulance and opened the door so that they could roll Sakura out of the truck and into the emergency room. There were two paramedics taking care of her, and as they rapidly pushed the bed, they yelled, "Move, move, move! We've got an urgent situation at hand! We need blood! We need blood!"

Lee slowly walked out of the ambulance and saw the rushing paramedics moving away from him, "I thought they said she was going to be okay…."

-----------------------------------------------

And there he sat. Lonesome and worried, beside the white bed on which Sakura sat in a deep sleep. The computer monitors beeped every time her heart beat and he smiled every time he saw it beep. That meant she was doing well, she was recovering.

He looked at his watch, it was now 12 in the afternoon and he had stayed up literally all night. She had not woken from her sleep and she was still resting.

Suddenly his cell phone rang; quickly he took it out of his jean pocket and looked to see who it was. Unknown number, strange.

He picked it up, "Hello?"

"Hello, Sakura? Sakura Haruno?"

"No….this is Lee, Rock Lee, but I am with Sakura at the moment, how did you get this number?"

"She called me from your cell phone; she said she needed to talk to me immediately, my name's Inspector Naruto Uzumaki…"

Lee remembered to the time when he had first met Sakura and she had asked him for his cell phone, was that when she had called this guy? Who was this Sakura anyways…..he found her wounded and limping down the street, being chased by random men and now an inspector wanted to speak with her? What _was_ with her?

"Well, she can 't answer the phone right now, she's in the hospital, unconscious…"

"What the hell?! How did this happen?"

"Who are you exactly…"

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself, Sakura Haruno is in deep trouble at the moment and we are doing a case with her at the moment, I am the head of the case as I have already introduced myself before, I'm Inspector Naruto…"

"I see…" Lee replied back, unsure of what to believe, "Well, I don't know anything about what's going on, but she asked me to use her cell phone earlier last night and I had found her in dirty clothes and she was limping. I had offered to drop her off at a police station and she was attacked there by some thug. So I saved her and asked her to stay over at my house for the night because it wasn't safe. Then she got attacked again by another guy around 4 in the morning. He slashed her real bad. He got away, but Sakura was left bleeding, so I had to take her to the hospital, she was loosing a lot of blood," he answered, "Now I'm sitting in the hospital beside her, I don't even know you please explain to me what the fuck is going on?"

"What hospital are you in?"

Caught off guard from the topic, "Uh, St. Mary's….why?"

"Okay, we'll be there in half an hour…"

"But…" before he could say anything else, the phone had hung up.

------------------------------------

Lee looked down at his watch; forty minutes had passed by since that phone call. So much for being punctual, he thought to himself. In that time Sakura had woken up and she was now silently eating her lunch the nurse had given to her.

He had tried to get her to talk, to explain what was going on, but she wouldn't even answer, she wouldn't even say one thing. So giving up, he waited irritably for the inspector to arrive.

Suddenly, the door opened, and in walked in a tall, blond-haired man, with a serious grin on his face. He looked over towards Lee, nodded his head in greeting and walked over towards Sakura. Closely behind him followed a small, shy, purple-haired girl. She walked in and looked closely at Lee, "Nice to meet you," she smiled walking up to him and shaking his hand, "I'm Hinata, and that there is my boss, Inspector Naruto Uzumaki."

"Pleasure," he replied blandly, "Took you long enough…"

"Yeah well, you know, traffic and all," he laughed jokingly.

Lee just kept on staring stonily.

"Uhm…yeah….," Naruto turned to Sakura and his grin vanished, "Miss, I hope you are okay?"

Sakura looked up meekly and nodded, "Shall we get down to business? I want that bastard caught as soon as possible."

Naruto looked at her in shock, "Uh, yeah…sure…"

----------------------------------------------------

"Wow, I have to admit, you've gone through a lot Miss. Haruno-san. I really regret that all that had to have happened to you," Naruto said in pity.

Sakura smiled, "Well if it weren't for Lee-san here I probably would be dead right now…"

Lee sat still, shocked, this woman had gone through so much and he had had no clue what so ever! He was shocked, baffled, he didn't know what to say. Finally he managed to say, "No problem at all."

"Okay then, now we have to figure out where this Sasuke is, Sakura, do you remember where he took you, or anything in particular he said that might've struck in your mind?"

Sakura rubbed her head in thought, there was something that was on the back of her mind and she still hadn't figured out.

"Lee!" she said suddenly, "The black book! Do you still have it?"

Lee looked up, "Ya…Ya I do as a matter of fact," he replied as he reached down into his pocket and grabbed the little book from it. He walked over and handed it over to Sakura, "Here…"

She took it and handed it over to Naruto, "This here is what I found in Sasuke's room right before I managed to escape. I had looked through it, but it's blank. I dunno why, but when Sasuke tried to kidnap me last night, he was more worried about getting the black book back then trying to kidnap me…"

Naruto grabbed the book and quickly looked through the blank pages, thinking, "Hmmm…..I've had this before. Usually this writing can't be seen from normal light, but it can be with a black light. "

"Where are we gunna get that from?" Lee asked.

"Well I carry a small black light flashlight with me all the time. Black light is used a lot in forensic investigations to detect blood, semen and other stuff like that at crime scenes," he answered as he took out a small black flashlight from his pocket.

He turned it on and opened the first page of the book, and sure enough, writing appeared wherever there was light shone on it. Naruto squeezed his eyes as he tried to read the first word…."Or-o-chi-mar-u…"

"Orochimaru?" Sakura said in shock…..Sasuke mentioned him before…who is this guy?

"He's the Lord of the Underworld if you wanna put it into Layman's terms," Lee answered as a matter-of-fact.

Naruto looked at him, "How do you know that?"

"Well, I run my own business, and he always comes down to take money from me for no reason,"

"Why haven't you complained about it?"

"Cuz he would kill me," he answered simply.

"Well, that means there's a connection between Orochimaru and Sasuke then? Isn't there a company called Orochimaru Enterprises?" Sakura asked.

"Well there's a number under here, we should try calling it," Naruto said, "Hinata? Do you mind calling this number…." He said as he turned around.

Though to his surprise she wasn't there.

"Where did she go?"

---------------------------------------

Hinata had sprinted out of the room as soon as she heard the name. This couldn't be good, they'd already gotten as far as figuring out that Orochimaru and Sasuke were connected. How did they get that black book!? She had to inform him as soon as possible. This could not bring anything good in the future.

--------------------------------

Sasuke sat on the park bench, panting. He had finally managed to take that bloody bullet out from his arm. He felt faint, he knew he was going to collapse any moment now. Though he couldn't. He still had one more thing left to do.

No matter what, he had learned through all these years working with Orochimaru-sama that he could always be counted on for help when desperately needed. He took out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed the number.

It slowly rang, finally somebody picked up from the other line, "Who dares to call me on this line? Speak up!"

Sasuke replied, "It's me sir, Sasuke…"

"Why the hell did you call me on this line? You know that it's not secure! This is only for emergencies!"

"But sir, I am in an emergency…I really, really need your help right now…"

"What did you do.."

"Sakura….she…she got away. And she stole the book. I'm wounded and I need transportation back to my house to deal with this wound properly…"

There was a long pause on the line…with heavy breathing, "You're shitting me right?" the angry voice came from the other line.

"N-no sir."

There was a long sigh, "I can't help you Sasuke."

"What! Why?"

"Don't question me! You have done enough harm to my enterprise in less than 2 days. I have built this company with my own two hands. And you ruin it by going against my orders and capturing that Sakura girl when I clearly told you not to. Not only that, but I allowed you afterwards to carry on with the plan on the condition that it would work out. But now you're calling me and saying that, that too has not worked! Do you realize how much is at stake if that inspector has that black book!"

"Sir…let me explain…"

"You should be lucky I'm not sending Neji to go and kill you right now! I'm too, too kind. I want no association what so ever with you anymore. Never call this number again, or I will make it a point to kill you. Go and solve this problem yourself."

"B-b-ut sir…" but the phone had hung up.

_Orochimaru-sama betrayed me. In my time of need. After all these years. I'm fucked._

--------------------------------------

Boundless shackles of self-delusion,

Are binding me down to earth,

My wings want to fly away,

The hooks just keep me in place,

My soul arises from despair,

It is then pushed way back,

Wanting to escape this fear,

But crimson tears fall down

-by xxiwritesinsnottragediesxx


	12. Chapter 14

**Wow, you guys thought I'd given up on this story eh? Ha ha, tricked you ), lost inspiration for a bit, but I got it back, I tried my best, hope people enjoy! Please r&r! thanks for your patience!**

_Chapter 12_

"Okay Kerry, I'll catch you later," he replied as he waved goodbye to the man standing at the store's entrance. Today had been a late night, it was now 2AM. He really shouldn't take the night shifts like that, it would ruin his health.

He turned and silently walked down the deserted sidewalk of the city towards his car at the end of the street. The streetlights flickered, humming noiselessly with that weird sound that all electric devices made when left running. It was strange because he always wondered what made that sound. He knew it had something to do with the electrons or atoms or some fancy schmancy thing, but he couldn't bother enough to care. Seriously, science, who cares about little things like that? Life worked out better when you were oblivious to things that didn't concern you.

Suddenly, he turned as he heard a loud, raspy coughing from the side. Turning he saw a park bench, and was that someone lying down on it? Thinking nothing of it (maybe just a drunk hobo), he continued walking. Though again he heard a loud coughing, even worse than the previous. He didn't look like a hobo, either that or he was a very well-dressed hobos. Seriously, how many hobos do you come across daily wearing a dress shirt and black, tailored pants?

Curiosity getting the better of him, he looked both ways before crossing the street (even though it was 2 in the morning and no cars would pass by, it was common habit) and walked over to the bench. He gasped in shock as he stared at the man's bloody arm.

Had he been shot? That seemed as the most probable explanation. He leaned forward, shaking the man's shoulder, "Hey…hey dude….are you okay?"

All that he could manage to get out of him was a low groan of pain. Seriously, this guy was in trouble. He had to do something about it. Well, he was no expert on doing lifesaving techniques like those fancy lifeguards he saw on television, but he did notice how they picked people up when they were unconscious. He put his arms underneath the man's back and attempted to lift him up. Bad idea. In an attempt to do that he himself almost toppled onto the street straight into the path of an oncoming vehicle.

Phew, that was close. _I guess I'm not much of a lifesaver now am I?_

"Fuck that, I'm getting the car. I'm gunna do this old school,"

--------------------------------------------------

Hinata paced the hospital floor nervously. This was bad, this was very bad. They had already started talking about Orochimaru. She couldn't believe that Sakura had been able to get a hold of that black book. She'd have to get rid of it somehow. She looked down at her watch, she had left the room about 10 minutes ago. She had left in such haste that she hadn't even stopped to think what the others would think of her suspicious exit.

She quickly clacked her heels down the hallway and stopped as she stood right in front of the door. Taking in a deep breath she thought to herself, _okay….just be cool, be calm for now. Call Sasuke later and think of another plan_.

She calmly opened the door and walked in.

"Hi everyone, sorry about th-," she stopped in mid-sentence. They were gone. Lee and Naruto had left and the only person left was Sakura who was looking at her with surprise with her sudden entrance.

"Oh….they're not here?" she asked confused.

Sakura smiled, "Well they left afterwards because they thought that you had left for some emergency or something. They said that they were going to the office. In fact they just left a few minutes ago. If you try you might still be able to catch up to them."

Hinata looked at her, "Uhh…yeah…uhm okay. Thanks Sakura. I guess I'll be going then," she replied.

"No problem, see you later."

With that Hinata opened the door and walked blindly into the hallway, ready to man her defenses.

----------------------------------------------

Hinata walked into her apartment. She wasn't going to be returning to work today. If they thought that she had gone for some emergency then so be it. This was a golden opportunity to try and figure out what to do.

She plopped down onto her sofa. What an exhausting day. As a matter of fact, what an exhausting week. Running around with the Inspector all day, pretending that she didn't know what was going on. That was one exhausting act to play.

She looked across her room and saw her liquor cabinet. In times of need….there's nothing better than a glass of sherry. She didn't care if old people drank it, she loved the drink. It was her little secret. She walked over and poured herself a glass. She then proceeded back to her sofa and plomped down.

She took a long sip of the sherry and slid down her sofa in comfort. Just for a few minutes she could forget about everything. Forget about all the stress, forget about all the tension, forget about Sasuke, forget about her father. She stared at her long slender fingers. Rotating her crystal glass in her hand, the warm red of the sherry glistening through the light. Taking another sip she sighed. Okay, back to work now. This was no time to be relaxing.

Taking out the cell phone from her back pocket, she quickly went through the directory... Sasuke Uchiha…..finding it she pressed it and the phone automatically began dialing. It began ringing….and ringing….and ringing some more. Nobody was picking up?

_What_ was going on? Sasuke always attended his phone no matter what time of the day it was. The only time she thought he wouldn't pick it up were if her were either a) dead or b) close to death. No….he couldn't be dead could he?

Last she heard from him he had said that Sakura had escaped. That was last night. Since then she hadn't gotten a call from him. This was weird. She was getting worried. What if he had really died, what if he had gotten badly injured and he was lying in some ditch somewhere? What would happen to him? What would happen to her? More importantly, what would happen to her father?

She shook her head in defiance, no, she had to have courage, she shouldn't be thinking such negative thoughts, otherwise they'd become true. She'd keep calling. She'd keep calling until her fingers became numb and blistered.

--------------------------------

He'd gone out to go and get some medicine for that guy's arm. He had put some bandages on it the night before when he had gotten back from his shift, but it didn't seem to be like enough. He thought that he should have taken the guy to the hospital, but thought not to.

Somehow it seemed like he was hiding something and he had a story behind all this. He walked out of the pharmacy. He hadn't been sure if he should have left the man alone, but he thought it wouldn't matter. He'd been knocked out for a bit and seemed like it was going to be a little while more until he was going to wake up. He looked into the plastic bag to make sure that he had gotten everything. Gauze, body tape, some band aids, disinfectant. He was set to go.

He wondered what the dude would eat. He should make something so that he would have it ready to give it to him as soon as he woke up. Gosh, he didn't even know this person and he was doing all this for them. He was too nice.

------------------------------------------------

As soon as he had walked into the house he had heard it. A low ringing sound? What the hell was that? Was it a telephone? He listened, well it for sure wasn't his telephone. He quickly ran into the man's room and the ringing became louder.

It was his cell phone. Someone was calling him, this was his chance to find out who this guy was and what was going on. He dropped the bags onto the floor and dashed to the man. Trying to go through his pockets to find it. He could hear it, he could feel it vibrating. Where the hell is it? It's so close.

"YES! I got it," he said triumphantly. Though as soon as he had managed to take his arm out of the pocket it had stopped ringing, the vibrating coming to a halt. "Awww fuck. I missed it."

Disappointed he put the cell phone back onto the cabinet beside the man. Suddenly the phone rang again, quickly he dashed over to it and picked it up, "Hello, who is this?"

There was a loud squeal from the other end, "Sasuke! Sasuke! Oh my gosh I've been trying to call you for the past hour! Are you okay? Is everything alright? Where were you?"

"Uhhh…..Sasuke who?"

Suddenly the squealing stopped and the voice turned serious, "Who the hell is this? What are you doing with Sasuke's phone?"

"Hey, hey don't get the wrong idea. I'm assuming the guy lying down injured next to me is called Sasuke? Listen here lady, I found this guy on the street park on a bench. His arm was badly injured. He's been knocked out every since I brought him back to his house. Do you want to pick him up or something because I really don't know what to do with him?"

There was a long pause on the other end. As if the lady was thinking something through.

"Hello, are you still there?"

"Yeah….yeah…I'm still here," the voice sounded dazed, "uh… what's your uhm…. your uhm address?"

"I live in an apartment on 34th street. It's called Empire apartments,"

"Yes I've heard of it," Hinata replied.

"Yeah well I'm room number 209, by the way when you get to the front desk just say you're looking for Shikamaru. That's my name, "he answered.

"Well thank you Shikamaru. I don't know what to say, I'll be there in 10 minutes. Thank goodness he's okay," Hinata replied and then put down the phone.

------------------------------------------------------

Hinata's mind raced, her heart pounded. What was wrong with Sasuke? He really had gotten injured. The worst had happened. She thought to herself, could it get any more worse? She looked around at the sides of the streets for an Empire Apartment. All she could remember was that it was in some rundown area of the city. Not the best place to be at the moment. Looking to her left she saw it. It was shabby also, like the rest of the area, so it was hard to differentiate it with the other buildings around it. Signaling left she turned into the parking area and stopped at a visitor parking space. Quickly she turned off the car and hopped out, walking her heels across the wet pavement and into the warmth of the front foyer.

She looked around her. Inside was shabby as well, not a surprise. The paint was peeling off the tops of the walls and old paintings were hung crooked in a desperate need f or a good dusting. She walked over to a brown and beaten desk at the back of the room where she saw an old woman sitting and staring at a computer screen. The woman didn't move when she approached her.

Hinata coughed loudly to get her attention, she finally turned. The lady couldn't be less than at least 70 years old. Fine wrinkles dragging across her face and her wispy white hair tied in a tight and clean bun. She smiles, accentuating her wrinkles even more, "May I help you sweetie?"

"Uh yes actually, I'm looking for someone by the name of Shikamaru, he's in room 209," she replied.

"Ah yes, down the hall to your right, take the elevator," she answered.

"Oh thank you," Hinata said.

As she turned around to leave the lady called out behind her, "Make sure you jam that elevator button real good. The darn thing gets stuck sometimes!"

Great, Hinata gulped, she felt like she was risking her life just walking into a shabby elevator. She was defying gravity. She was being dangerous. She smiled to herself. A sense of humour at this time? Well they say when someone cracks, things like that happen to them. It did seem to her like she was on the edge anyways. She just needed a little push and she'd be down that path of insanity in no time.

-------------------------------------

She walked down the beaten carpet. Numerous stains were riddled on its dirty carpeted floor. She didn't want to know the history behind them. Some of them were still a little sticky. Yuck.

She looked over to her right and saw the room- 209. Walking towards it she hesitated before she knocked, but gathering up her courage she finally urged herself to it. She clunked her fist lightly onto the wooden door and waited patiently as she heard shuffling footsteps behind it.

She saw someone lifting the flap on the other side to see who it was, and when they did, they opened the door. A man with pale white skin appeared, dark black hair, dry from a lack of moisture was heftily done into a ponytail and tied up.

The man grinned, "You Hinata?"

"Yeah that's me,"

He took out his hand, "I'm Shikamaru,"

Hinata shook it, smiling faintly, "I believe we have already discussed our names over the phone".

The man looked up at her, "Oh yes, yes, how silly of me. Well…come in come in. Would you like anything to drink? Water, wine, beer?"

"Actually I'm fine, I was wondering if I could just see Sasuke and perhaps just quickly get out of your way. I'm sorry if he's been any bother."

"No, no that is fine. I mean, he was badly injured. But I don't know, he looks pretty strong and he only had an arm injury. He looks really faint and he's been knocked out for a while. I think there's something else wrong with him besides that arm injury if you want to look into it any deeper," he replied.

"Where is he?" she asked

Shikamaru pointed towards a red door across the apartment room, "He's in there, I don't know if he's woken up or not yet."

"Thank you," Hinata answered as she walked towards it. She slowly opened the red door and surely there sat Sasuke on his bed, staring blankly at the wall in front of him.

"Uhm…..Sasuke?" Hinata asked quietly.

Sasuke turned his head, "Why are you here?"

"I….I had been calling you for a while and no one was picking up. That man outside finally picked up your cell phone and told me that you were here…he said that you were hurt so I came to visit to make sure everything was going okay…"

Sasuke turned to her as if he had not been listening, "I am a trained killer you know that?" he said blankly, "Ever since I grew up I've never known any other world besides this one. First it was Itachi, then it was Orochimaru. And I've been betrayed. Betrayed by both of them."

Hinata looked at Sasuke in shock, _he had been betrayed by Orochimaru?! But how?_

He continued, as if he did not recognize Hinata's presence in the room, "And she shot me. Sakura shot me. I wasn't intending on hurting her. I didn't mean to stab her in the leg like that. In fact, I actually just wanted the black book and I was going to run away. Enough was enough, I had thought to myself. I couldn't handle that woman anymore. But when I saw her as I entered the room…something happened. My heart raced, I was filled with emotions I knew I shouldn't be feeling. And then I woke her up. I had nothing to do but to put on a face of anger and demand for that black book. That's all I needed…I don't know why I even did that…why I even woke her up in the first place…I'm so stupid!" He yelled as he banged his fist against the wall, "Why did I have to wake her up?! Then that man appeared with his gun….who was he? Why was she in his house? I couldn't help it, I COULDN'T HELP BUT BE POSSESIVE OVER HER! I grabbed her wrist and tried to run away with her, but that _stupid_ man came at me, I fought, I know I shouldn't have fought, but I did. And then she shot me…and she fell unconscious….."

Hinata just stared in astonishment, what was he talking about? Why was he acting like this? Is that how he had gotten that wound on his arm?

"I am a trained killer….I should have been able to withstand that bullet, but I couldn't. I just couldn't. I hadn't eaten anything in the past few days, I was weak even before the mission to get back the black book…and then seeing Sakura in that man's bed…I even forgot to get back that black book…I wasn't thinking straight god dammit!"

Then Sasuke looked up, realizing all that he said in Hinata's presence…" And you…."

Hinata backed away, afraid of what Sasuke might do in this state, he continued, looking at her, "Forget about the deal that we made."

"What!?" Hinata stammered…"…but my father? How will I pay for him??"

Sasuke sighed heavily, rubbing his temples, "Go to my jacket pocket, it's hanging over there," he said as he pointed towards a stand near the door, "Take all the money that's in there and leave. That should be more than enough."

Hinata hesitated, then finally turned towards the hanging jacket. She ruffled through his pocket and took out a stash of money. Shocked at the amount she said, "Are you sure this will be okay? I mean…all this money?"

Sasuke nodded, "Now leave. I'll be leaving this place soon anyways. Just forget about anything that might have happened between us. Don't mention anything to a soul."

With that Hinata nodded and turned around, stuffing the stash of money into her purse. She walked out of the room, and saw Shikamaru sitting on the couch, he had fallen asleep. Quietly Hinata tip-toed across the carpet and made her way through the front entrance and out of the building.

When she had finally reached the cool night air of the outside she sighed a heavy relief…she was free.

----------------------

Have you ever felt forgotten?

Invisible?

Allone?

A dark cape of epathy,

Hover over,

No light is able to come through,

To shine on you?

To enlighten you?

To be recognized?

Misjudgements are,

Of a cruel faith,

Sadness,

Of desire

Saying, "Open your eyes,

And see that I am here,

Help me,

My soul is lowly aging!"

Waiting for that one person,

To reach out their hand,

To understand what you are feeling,

Fore this life is filled with to much hurt,

To be led when you're forgotten


End file.
